The following      anti-ADA articles  appeared in today's (Sunday) Fort
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.  They are part of a whole package     that
started on page one and above the fold as the lead headline of the Sunday
paper.

 Disability rights advocate Fred Shotz personally spent a day with this
reporter showing her the positive sides of ADA enforcement and the
intentional violations of the ADA by many businesses. He  even took her
to the district office of Congressman E. Clay Shaw, of whom she speaks in
her article, to show her the violations of the ADA at his office -
violations that he  pointed out to Representative Shaw more than a year
ago - that have still not been corrected.  He is   currently the
plaintiff in an ADA lawsuit against William Tucker over the
inaccessibility of his law office.

You can  write to this "journalist", Shannon O'Boye at

[log in to unmask]

you can also  write to the editor of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel at

[log in to unmask]

Kelly


Lawsuits push enforcement of ADA, but some call them legal rip-offs
By Shannon O'Boye, Sally Kestin and Bob LaMendola
Sun-Sentinel
Posted August 26 2001

In little more than a year, one man in a wheelchair and his two
attorneys have filed almost 200 federal lawsuits against businesses
from Pompano Beach to Homestead, alleging violations of the Americans
With Disabilities Act.

They've sued strip clubs, office buildings, restaurants and car
dealers, generally using identical wording to accuse business owners
of failing to make parking, restrooms and entrances accessible to the
disabled. The attorneys have collected thousands of dollars in legal
fees.

   But many of the business owners say Carlisle Wilson and his lawyers,
William Tucker and Lawrence McGuinness, are more interested in
generating legal fees than improving access for the disabled.

"I think it's a rip-off," said Peter Kourkoumeils, owner of Peter Pan
Diner in Oakland Park. "All they want [people] to do is settle."

To settle a suit by Wilson, Kourkoumeils said he spent about $500 on
minor changes at his diner, such as adding two blue disabled signs
and moving a toilet one-half inch. He paid Wilson's attorneys $3,500.

"The law was put into place to make buildings accessible to the
disabled, not to raise attorneys' fees," said U.S. Rep. E. Clay Shaw,
R-Fort Lauderdale, who is co-sponsoring a bill to require notice of
violations before a lawsuit can be filed. "Congress didn't intend
this to be a welfare bill for attorneys."

A flood of lawsuits driven by legal fees has been filed in Florida
and a handful of other states, Shaw said. Wilson's group is among a
dozen that have sued about 1,800 businesses in South Florida in the
past five years.

As a quadriplegic, Wilson said his goal is to enforce a law that has
been on the books since 1990.

"These crybabies, they've had 11 years," said Wilson, of Fort
Lauderdale. "Anyone who's crying that they have to put a wheelchair
ramp in or have to put an [accessible] bathroom in a restaurant,
tough. I have the law on my side."

But Wilson hasn't used the law to compel his own lawyers to make
their offices accessible. Tucker works out of a Fort Lauderdale
building that has no disabled parking, a ramp steeper than the law
allows, no landing and a door with a round doorknob. McGuinness'
office in Coral Gables has a curb with no ramp to the front door.

Tucker, 41, declined to comment, and McGuinness, 39, could not be
reached despite five calls and a visit to his office.

The Sun-Sentinel visited 25 businesses, about one-quarter of those
that have settled suits by Wilson. Most had to make minor changes,
such as lowering a bathroom mirror by four inches and replacing
doorknobs with levers. Two made no changes at all, and one made major
modifications. Most created or improved parking for the disabled.

Although terms of many settlements were confidential, business owners
said they each paid $1,000 to $9,500 to Wilson's attorneys.

"As long as they can find something wrong, even if they allege 10
things and there's only one, they technically prevail," said Rod
Hannah, the lawyer for a Lauderdale Lakes strip mall that added one
parking space to settle a suit by Wilson. "The only way to get out of
it is to spend a little money and pay them some attorney's fees."

Freelance policing

Passed by Congress in 1990, the ADA is one of the most significant
civil rights laws in decades.

The law requires buildings open to the public to have designated
parking and no steps or curbs blocking the entrance. Bathrooms and
aisles must be able to accommodate patrons in wheelchairs. Counters
cannot be too high.

Although Congress did not create an enforcement arm, the U.S.
Department of Justice is responsible for investigating complaints.

"We have no comment on the whole practice of excessive suits," said
Dan Nelson of the Justice Department. "We are aware of it."

The federal agency can sue to force ADA compliance but has done so
only 122 times since the law was enacted. As a result, disabled
activists - and their lawyers - became the watchdogs.

"In effect, this is freelance police work," said Brewster Thackeray,
spokesman for the National Organization on Disability advocacy group.
"Places out of compliance are now being forced into compliance. It's
a shame it would have to come to that, but with the law being in
existence for 11 years, they've been getting a free ride.

"That doesn't mean there aren't people out there pursuing [suits] for
personal gain."

John Williams, a columnist on disability issues for Business Week
online, said too many businesses still are not accessible.

"But I think what these two lawyers and this guy are doing stinks,"
Williams said. "It's really an abuse of the legal system. This sounds
to me like it's a shakedown, and that's wrong."

The law allows a disabled person who has been denied access to a
public building because of ADA violations to file a federal lawsuit.
Businesses must make "readily achievable" changes and can be forced
to pay the disabled person's legal fees.

The lack of government oversight and the lure of legal fees have led
to a rash of suits in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Florida.

In 1999, the Citizens Concerned About Disability Access filed dozens
of suits, including 35 in one month, on behalf of a Pompano Beach
girl, 12, in a wheelchair saying she could not get into a liquor
store, a pawnshop and other businesses in Palm Beach and Broward
counties.

The backlash against that batch of lawsuits and scores of others
sparked U.S. Reps. Shaw and Mark Foley, R-West Palm Beach, to sponsor
a bill giving businesses 90 days' notice before they can be sued. The
bill died last year but will be considered again this year.

"This whole thing has precipitated a cottage industry for a niche
group of lawyers," said Robert Frankel, a Miami lawyer who defended
the owner of an office building sued by Wilson. "Leave it to a group
of lawyers to figure out a way to make a buck."

Wheelchairs barred

A self-proclaimed "hippie at heart," Wilson broke his neck as a
teenager in Ohio when he dove from a rooftop and hit the bottom of a
pool. He lost use of his legs and partial use of his upper body.
Ordinary tasks such as dialing a phone, signing his name and picking
up a cup of coffee are difficult, but he wheels his own chair,
drives, dresses and showers without assistance.

Wilson, 51, said he takes pride in forcing businesses to comply with
the ADA law.

His first lawsuit came in 1998, after he said he was not allowed to
go fishing with his son, 4, and three friends on the Flamingo, a
deep-sea fishing boat at Bahia Mar in Fort Lauderdale.

Wilson said he was still in the parking lot, sliding from his car to
his wheelchair, when a friend came back to say crew members told him
wheelchairs were not allowed. He left feeling embarrassed and angry,
and, on Oct. 5, 1998, he sued the company.

Defense attorney Tom Lardin disputed Wilson's account but could not
remember the details. The case was settled in eight months, and the
Flamingo now has a sign posted at the dock describing a policy that
says no one will be denied access because of disability.

"There's not a man, boy, woman, or kid that will come to Fort
Lauderdale and not be able to go fishing now," Wilson said. "Is that
so bad?"

Wilson said he continued to see accessibility problems and shared his
frustrations with Tucker, whom he met through his son. The lawyer
offered to help.

In July 2000, Wilson founded a nonprofit corporation, Advocating
Disability Rights Inc., whose primary purpose is to "seek enforcement
and compliance of ... property with the ADA in areas where its
members live and travel," the group's lawsuits say.

Wilson, his wife, Catherine, and Tucker's father-in-law, attorney
George Moxon, are the corporation officers, state records show. The
group has no other members, Wilson said.

He recently set up a Web site for the corporation, offering
information on the ADA and asking for donations. IRS records show the
group is not tax-exempt, and it is not registered with the state to
solicit the public for money. A state spokesman said some educational
and religious groups are exempt from registering, but he could not
comment about whether groups that advocate disability rights were.

Wilson and Moxon did not produce public records and financial
statements requested by the Sun-Sentinel. Wilson, who has worked as a
bill collector and a people finder but is now doing volunteer work
with the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, said he gets no money from
the lawsuits.

Lawsuit errors

July 3 was a busy day for Wilson and his attorneys. They filed 23
identical suits, all against Miami-Dade strip clubs. "If all the
complaints are identical, these people aren't really concerned
patrons who want to improve access to a building," said David
McDonald, a lawyer for Stir Crazy, a strip club in Miami.In court
papers, Wilson said he had visited all 197 businesses he sued and
planned to return to each. But in an interview, he could not remember
the specific violations at most of the places, including Zuckerello's
Restaurant & Pizzeria in Fort Lauderdale.

Wilson sued the restaurant in September 2000 even though one of its
former managers was in a wheelchair and said he never had problems
getting around during the four years he worked there.

To settle the case, the owner agreed to make $200 in changes and pay
Tucker and McGuinness $3,700.

Many of the businesses targeted are clustered along main roads, such
as Federal Highway, Oakland Park Boulevard and Ponce de Leon
Boulevard, which is blocks from McGuinness' law office in Coral
Gables.

Some of the suits filed en masse contain errors. Office buildings
have been accused of having service counters that are too high even
though they had no service counters. Four businesses sued on Jan. 29
were referred to as "the Floridian," a downtown Fort Lauderdale
restaurant, an indication that the lawyers failed to revise the form
complaint. A few suits contained wrong addresses or the words
"property address." And one building got sued twice on the same day
under different names.

Central Bark, a pet-supply store in Oakland Park, was one of 13
businesses sued on Sept. 5. The suit said Wilson found ADA violations
"when he visited the [store] on several occasions in 1999 and 2000."
Central Bark did not open until March 2000.

Owner Chris Gaba said he had spent $6,000 on a wheelchair-accessible
bathroom and thousands on doorway access before opening, but the suit
claimed those areas were in violation.

Gaba said his lawyer and Tucker worked out a deal requiring Central
Bark and the business next door to create a disabled parking space
and to install a five-foot ramp. The work cost several hundred
dollars, but Gaba had to pay Tucker $2,000 and his own lawyers and
experts about $4,000.

"They really did me up good," Gaba said. "The whole thing was so
disturbing. The problems were so minor, but the cost was so high."

Not every lawsuit sticks. Wilson's attorneys dropped at least 16
cases, usually because of errors, because there were no violations
after all or by failing to follow up.

Last month, a judge threw out a case against the owner of three
1970s-era office buildings, ruling that Wilson failed to show he
would return there, as is required to prove discrimination. Wilson
said he planned to rent an office and see a doctor at the buildings,
but when Magistrate Judge Barry Garber dismissed the case on July 24,
he said Wilson never had a doctor's appointment and never asked about
rent or availability.

Despite such rulings, defense attorneys usually counsel owners of
small businesses to settle quickly.

"Do you want to spend $20,000 to have a trial and voice your
displeasure that this case is being driven by attorneys fees" or pay
much less to settle, asked Fort Lauderdale attorney Paul Ranis.

A few business owners, like John Day of Mangos Restaurant & Lounge on
Las Olas Boulevard, are fighting Advocating Disability Rights. As a
member of the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Rotary, Day has donated and
raised money to buy wheelchairs for people in poor countries.

"I got almost a form letter, and you get the impression that if you
pay $2,400 in attorneys fees, they drop the suit and go away," he
said. "I said, 'I'll pay $20,000 before I give you $10.' Someone has
to stand up and say, 'No. This is wrong.'"

Many business owners said they were unaware of the violations and
would have fixed them if Wilson or someone had pointed them out.

Disabled advocates say that's bunk and defend their right to sue.

"Nobody comes into compliance without a push," said Ed Resnick, of
Access Now Inc., a Miami Beach nonprofit that has sued eight cruise
lines, Walt Disney World, Sea World and Universal Studios. "Nobody is
doing it willingly."

South Florida's chief federal judge, William J. Zloch, said judges
can initiate an investigation if they suspect a frivolous case was
filed. Such suspicions could arise at trial, but many ADA suits are
settled or dismissed before then and often without hearings before a
judge.

"The court is aware of the number of cases filed" by plaintiffs like
Wilson, Zloch said. "Any party that feels that a claim has been made
that is totally without merit has a right to seek sanctions. I'm not
aware of any defendant ever seeking to invoke that sanction in those
types of cases."

Many business owners said that after they paid the settlement,
neither Wilson nor his attorneys returned to do business or see
whether the improvements were made.

"I'm not responsible," Wilson said. "They've signed, they have to
comply. No one deputized me. I'm not the cop."

But after thinking about it for a few moments, he agreed that someone
should check up on the businesses he has sued.

"I can't give you a good answer," he said when asked why he does not.
"There are 20 to 30 places that I've been back to that I go to
regularly where I can say, yeah, things have been taken care of."

Staff database specialist John Maines contributed to this report.
Shannon O'Boye can be reached at
[log in to unmask]
or
954-356-4597.

*********



Former manager of restaurant denies allegation
By Bob LaMendola, Shannon O'Boye and Sally Kestin
Sun-Sentinel

August 26, 2001

Thomas Saladino was shocked when his former employer was sued by a man in
a wheelchair who called the Italian restaurant inaccessible.

The lawsuit filed in September portrayed Zuckerello's as an obstacle
course for the disabled. No parking spaces. Barriers at the entrance.
Counter too high.
Restroom too small for a wheelchair. No restroom grab bars. Improper
faucet handles. Toilet, soap dispenser, towel dispenser - all too high.

Saladino, a paraplegic in a wheelchair, had seen none of those problems
during the four years he was a manager of the Fort Lauderdale pizza shop.
More than
a year earlier, he had supervised a renovation to create a large
disabled-access restroom.

Look-alike lawsuits

"All I can say is, it's a big scam. This is legal extortion," said
Saladino, 47, who is on leave from the restaurant to care for an ill
relative.

"I'm a big advocate for the disabled. It is frustrating when you go
somewhere and there's no bathroom or a big curb and you can't get in,"
said Saladino,
who was paralyzed by a gunshot during a 1997 argument with a Coral
Springs neighbor.

"But this is ridiculous. I never had trouble getting around in there.
Nobody ever did. We had wheelchair customers, disabled customers, all the
time."

The Zuckerello's suit was one of 13 filed against businesses on the same
day - with identical wording - by Carlisle Wilson, a quadriplegic, and
his lawyers,
William Tucker and Lawrence McGuinness.

Restaurant owner Adam Zucker said he settled the suit in three months by
making about $200 to correct minor violations and paying Wilson's
attorneys $3,700
in legal fees.

"My lawyer told me, if you want to defend it in court, you're going to
win, but it's going to cost you $10,000," Zucker said. "So I paid
[Tucker] and it
went away. That's what they were counting on."

Wilson said the Zuckerello suit had merit, although he can't remember
what was wrong there. The fact that Saladino had no trouble is
irrelevant. "That's
fine and well, but does that cover the deaf person or the deaf mute?"
Wilson said. "This isn't about that one person working at that one
restaurant. A
person who's a paraplegic and can't move from the waist down, I don't
even consider them disabled. They're impaired a little bit. They're
uncomfortable.

"I'm a quadriplegic. My fingers don't work. And I think the blind guy is
more disabled than me and on down the line."

Attorney Tucker declined to comment. Attempts to reach McGuinness with
five calls and a visit to his office were unsuccessful.

Weeks after the suit arrived, Zucker set up a meeting with Tucker. The
attorney and an aide arrived at the restaurant at 3017 E. Commercial
Blvd. with a
tape measure, ready to chart violations of the federal disability rights
law.

"He was surprised to see me," Saladino said.

Paying the lawyers

Tucker went straight to the bathroom, but found it accessible. The
parking was fine. He pressed Zucker to lower the height of the restaurant
's bar but backed
off when Zucker refused.

In the end, Zucker said both sides agreed on four restroom changes:
Lowering grab bars and sink by a few inches, posting a sign at the door
and wrapping
knee-protecting insulation around sink pipes.

"We took care of everything in two days," Saladino said. Paying the
attorneys' bill took two months.

Said Zucker: "I told [Tucker], 'Why did you sue me?' If you send me a
letter and tell me a handicapped person was in the bathroom and had a
hard time getting
into the bathroom, I would have fixed it.

"He said, 'This is not the way it works.'"

Bob LaMendola can be reached at [log in to unmask] or
954-356-4526.


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