The Cost of ADA Compliance

[MineralMan]

is generally less than the cost of a lawsuit because you didn't comply. I'm not sure why so many people fight ADA compliance for their businesses, frankly. In the end, they will lose and have to comply, and they will have the cost of the lawsuit on top of the cost of compliance.

For public places and private accommodations, just comply with the perfectly sensible ADA requirements. It's the law, and it's doing what's right.

{/rant}

[gvstn]

1. I think there is a lot of grandfathering in with the ADA

I'm guessing businesses that fight compliance think they can get an exemption. When it was passed it only applied to businesses with 50 or more employees and new construction. Most small businesses with any sense come up with some way to help disabled customers that is workable if not exactly up to standards.

My own rant: If you build a wheelchair ramp for your parking lot, when the guys come to stripe the parking spaces make sure they don't create a parking space in front of your nice new ramp! This happens in many more parking lots then you can imagine. And property managers always are reluctant to bother with a $10 fix for a can of paint because they don't want to "lose" a parking space. /rant

[MineralMan]

2. Good example. I've seen that, too, in parking lots.

Once, it was at a medical clinic, and sure enough, there was a big SUV parked so as to block the access ramp. Amazing!

[gvstn]

4. Yup!

My mom's eye doctor has lots of handicap parking which seems to be about a 1/4 mile from the door and one spot on the side of the building but if you park in it you block the ramp. Plenty of other examples in practically every parking lot we visit except for the mall and most grocery stores. Not really sure how it can be so common these days.

[libodem]

3. Thank you

Important message here.

[rrneck]

5. A little known benefit of ADA

it the efficiency gained by delivery and installation personnel. The ramps and automatic doors in buildings don't just make life easier for the handicapped, but for anyone carrying a load into or out of the building. Efficiency cuts costs.

[MineralMan]

6. Yup. I've seen that at work, for sure. Ramps are good for business.

Imagine that. They help get goods into your place of business and help customers get into it, too. What a concept!

[Throd]

7. In California there are ADA extortionists who only care about money.

They will find something out of ADA compliance with a business and then demand payment not to sue. They tend to single out business owned by immigrants as they are easier to intimidate. For them, it isn't about accessibility, it's about payment. Most business owners want to be in compliance and will remedy a situation when given the opportunity.

How do I know this? My cousin used to be one of these parasites. He would troll around looking for businesses out of compliance and then have his attorney boyfriend threaten to sue unless payment was made. When my family found out what he was doing with his life, we were appalled. He died a few years ago and left the world a better place by doing so.

[MineralMan]

8. Well, there are always people looking for ways to take advantage

of any situation. That's a bad thing, but the ADA is still a good thing for those who are physically or otherwise handicapped. Just as there are a few people who abuse the welfare system, such abuse is not an argument that the system should not exist. There are also insurance fraud cases, but I don't think we should get rid of insurance.

Fraud and abuse should be prosecuted. No question about it. But, the reasons the ADA and other systems exist remain good reasons.

[Throd]

9. Apparently is is easier in California for these shakedown artists to operate.

We need to take away the profit motive from these lawsuits while still holding businesses accountable with compliance.