7 months ago
SACRAMENTO, CA - The attorney representing a disabled Sacramento woman whose lawsuit may shut down the popular Squeeze Inn defends the complaint, calling the restaurant's owner a "scofflaw."
Eureka attorney Jason Singleton declined a request from News10 for a telephone interview, but sent a letter responding to the enormous amount of attention he and his client Kimberly Block have received since News10 broke the story last week.
Singleton, who has filed roughly 350 Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuits in federal courts in California, said he always warns the offending businesses before suing them. He said Squeeze Inn owner Travis Hausauer was given written notice offering him an opportunity to make ADA-required improvements before Singleton filed suit in Sacramento last Monday.
Singleton pointed out business owners have had since 1990 to come into compliance with the ADA and have tax credits available to them to do so.
"Given this amount of time, the tax credits, and getting a letter prior to suit, the businesses not removing barriers are scofflaws, not victims," he wrote. "The Squeeze Inn is not just excluding Ms. Block, but everyone who is disabled."
Singleston responded to allegations that he sues business owners just for the money.
"If a defendant effects the repairs, or agrees to, the suit is moot and dismissed. Plaintiff does not collect damages or attorney fees in federal court in that event," he wrote.
But that explanation doesn't tell the whole story: Singleton collects thousands by avoiding trial and settling outside of court, as he did recently with the Market Basket supermarket in Sacramento's Del Paso Heights.
Manager Melissa Vue said she made modifications to the store demanded by Singleton, then paid him $8,500 to dismiss the case.
The owner of the Quick Shop Market on Franklin Blvd. paid more than $6,000 to replace a ramp at the store's entrance, and said Singleton is demanding an additonal $10,700 to settle the case.
Singleton addressed the scores of viewer and reader comments posted in response to news coverage of the Squeeze Inn lawsuit.
"The vitriol surrounding these issues exemplifies that discrimination against the disabled is the last form of "acceptable" discrimination. Wake up people, most of us are going to be disabled at some point in our lives."
Singleton files so many lawsuits he apparently doesn't have time to proofread them. A number of suits reviewed by News10 were sloppy cut-and-paste jobs. Separate complaints against the IHOP restaurant in Dixon, Lil Joe's restaurant in Sacramento and a Sacramento convenience store placed all the businesses in Vacaville.
When asked to clarify his remarks about legal fees, Singleton told News10 "I have nothing to add... Please do not contact me again."
by George Warren gwarren@news10.net
KXTV/News10
