A South Florida Federal Judge recently held order to show cause hearings in regards to the litigation tactics of a local professional plaintiff ADA lawyer. It seems Judge Zloch had finally had enough of the litigiousness and aberrant behavior of one of South Florida's most prolific ADA lawyers. Examples of the behavior include demanding over 25 hours worth of compensation yet only having less than 10 hours of billable time, lack of candor to the court, lack of candor to opposing counsel, and filing or pursuing matters that were deemed to be frivolous.

A study that was done years ago revealed that the largest groups of cases filed in federal court are ADA cases, driven by the almost automatic attorneys’ fee provisions when these cases are successful or even establish one demonisms non-ADA compliant conditions. With the advent of the United States Supreme Court case of Buckhannon vs. West Virginia School Board, many thought that these professional plaintiff lawsuits would go away or be substantially reduced. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. However, Buckhannon requires plaintiffs to actually obtain a successful decision or agree to a consent decree which always provides for attorneys fees. By forcing these plaintiffs to prove their case in court, many businesses and property owners can win the battle but lose the war.

Federal court litigation is extremely expensive and most of these lawyers know it. LaBovick Law Group has a division dedicated to the defense against these cases. Attorney Joseph R. Fields, Jr., Esq. has been successfully defending these cases for the past 15 years. He is the only attorney to have testified in United States Congressional hearings regarding the abuses of the ADA perpetrated by these groups and their attorneys. To review his testimony before Congress, please go to the website LaBovick.com and click on the ADA defense link. Mr. Fields and his staff are available for consultation in regards to defense of these cases. There are many tactics that can be used in order to significantly reduce the overall exposure that a business or property owner might have.

Since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act over 20 years ago, it is no longer uncommon to see persons with disabilities in all facets of society. But what about children with disabilities? Are children covered by the ADA law? Absolutely.

Child ADA Law Compliant Example

A recent complaint by the parent of a visually disabled child was recently settled with a requirement that the football league allow the child to a wear a tinted visor instead of forcing him to wear sunglasses that would fog up and fall off. Given the league’s only opposition to the request for an accommodation was that paramedics might have to remove the helmet to check the child's pupils in the event of an injury, the United States Department of Justice office in charge of enforcing private complaints had no trouble pointing to the dozens of professional football players who wear similar visors.

This case is a good example of parents being advocates for their children with disabilities. In situations where parents have done all they can do, and they are still not satisfied with the accommodation, an ADA law attorney with strong knowledge of the ADA laws and these types of settlements is absolutely necessary.

Contact an ADA Law Attorney

LaBovick Law Group has a division devoted to the rights of those with disabilities. Call the LaBovick Law Group at 888.777.3884 for a free consultation to discuss the ada guidelines and your options. The attorney team at the LaBovick Law Group help clients from our Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, and Boca Raton offices. We represent ada disability clients throughout Florida, including Palm Beach County, the Treasure Coast, Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, Jupiter, Boynton Beach, North Palm Beach, Stuart, Deerfield Beach, Port St. Lucie, Vero Beach, Lake Worth, Tequesta, Ft. Pierce, Lake Park, Riviera Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Miami, Pompano Beach, Hollywood, Coral Springs, Delray Beach, Greenacres and Wellington.

Hotels throughout the country are facing deadlines for providing access to their pools for persons with disabilities who use a wheelchair or other mobility device. As of this month, all hotel pools must have a lift or other method of entry for a person using a wheelchair. Unfortunately, there are not enough lift manufacturers or suppliers to cover every hotel in the nation.
Is the Department of Justice helping with this problem? Actually, no. When confronted with this developing problem several months ago, the Department of Justice issued a letter to the hotel industry which did absolutely nothing in regards to solving the problem. Given there are 51,000+ hotels in our nation, and substantially less lifts available, this is another example of the ADA gone bad.
Proper planning for the implementation of this change would have included provisions for where these lifts are going to be obtained from. The hotel industry is now faced with the prospect of substantial and costly ADA litigation over an issue that they now have no control over. Only time will tell whether this will be another federal government created debacle.
The easiest solution would be to shut down the pool and concrete it over. Was that what the ADA intended to do? Probably not.
The LaBovick Law Group ADA lawyers division provides legal and consulting services to businesses and properties that are open to the public. ADA litigation can be effectively prevented through compliance reviews available through this firm. For a free consultation.

An evolving body of law is allowing members of the disabled and/or deaf community (and their families) to secure compensation for violations of their rights. Doctors and other medical services providers, who accept Medicare and/or Medicaid, cannot refuse to treat a patient (or treat a patient differently) because of their disability. They cannot charge disabled, blind or deaf patients extra for providing medical services. They cannot charge for interpretation or signage services.

Doing so subjects those providers to monetary damages for violation of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Members of the disabled and deaf community are entitled to the same treatment, policies, procedures and costs for treatment as all others. Recent decisions under 504 have awarded: $10,000, $62,000, and $35,000 to disabled patients/customers.

The time for asserting your rights is now! Attorney Joseph Robert Fields, Jr., Esq. can assist those discriminated against with the pursuit of their claims. Many such claims also include attorneys’ fees and costs for enforcing your civil rights. All cases are handled on a contingent hourly basis, with a “no recovery, no costs/fees to you guarantee.” Call 561-625-8400 to speak to him for free.

Discrimination against persons with disabilities comes in more flavors than just wheelchair issues. Quite often the media focuses too much on litigation and issues based on access by persons using wheelchairs. However, there are many other ways to discriminate against people with disabilities.

A recent settlement by the United States Department of Justice against the producers of The Price is Right reflects this changing perception and focus on other important ADA issues.

The settlement requires CBS and the show producer to not only make the TV set accessible to persons using wheelchairs, but also requires correction of issues pertaining to the visually and hearing impaired. Water fountains need to be accessible not only to persons who use wheelchairs, but also persons who have difficulty bending over. Bathrooms not only need to be accessible to persons with wheelchairs, they also need to not contain hazards to the visually impaired.

Continue reading "Disability Discrimination: It's more than just a wheelchair thing!" »

The Isle of Capri Casinos has been served with a lawsuit regarding the casino allegedly failing to adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines and discrimination against a visually impaired and legally blind, Palm Beach County resident, Philip Juarez, reports, Joseph R. Fields, Jr., West Palm Beach ADA Litigation and ADA Defense Attorney.

According to the filed complaint, Mr. Juarez, plays Texas Hold 'Em and other card games for years at other South Florida casinos. The Isle of Capri Casinos Pompano Park is the only casino in South Florida that refused to provide Mr. Juarez with accommodations to play poker.

Mr. Juarez is represented by LaBovick Law Group in the lawsuit filed by Joseph R. Fields, Jr., Esq., West Palm Beach ADA Litigation and ADA Defense Lawyer on August 31, 2011, in Federal Court, Southern District of Florida.

Continue reading "Isle of Capri Casinos sued by Visually Impaired Poker Player for ADA Discrimination" »

Business Owners: Beware, Congress recently made changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act. They tinkered with the requirements for places of public accommodation. To assist businesses in full compliance, a safe harbor was created for businesses/properties that previously complied with the old rules. So, if you were in compliance before the changes, you are ok today.

The challenge for the ADA Defense of business owners or property owners is that just because there was compliance on one issue doesn't mean they are in compliance on all issues. This is especially true when there is a lawsuit involved. Simply because you have been sued once, doesn't mean that your business or property can't be sued again.

There are many new issues which should be inspected before you can feel safe from an ADA threat. Some of the new cases we see in the court house have to do with ticket sales, condominium hotels, hotel reservations, parking requirements, accessible bathrooms, and requiring VRI (video remote interpreting) for all businesses.

Continue reading "New ADA Laws Change Their Definitions Making It Easy To Get Sued" »

Emotional or therapy animals are not protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. According to the US DOJ, emotional or therapy animals are not service animals and are not protected. Businesses have the right to question owners of such animals and to request that they leave if they fail to establish entitlement to having a service animal with them.

Businesses should not inquire about the actual disability, but rather the nature of the work the animal is trained to do that the persons disability prevents them from doing. This is often times a "thin ice" proposition, but one that can be traversed. For more information about such animals, please feel free to call us for a free consultation.

Continue reading "EMOTIONAL OR THERAPY ANIMALS NOT PROTECTED BY ADA" »

Congress has changed the ADA again. Have you previously been sued for Title III violations because your property or business was allegedly inaccessible? Have you been the victim of drive-by litigation filed by professional plaintiffs? Get ready for round two!

Despite having multiple opportunities to fix the inherent problems of attorney fee driven litigation, Congress has yet to solve the problem. The latest fiasco/attempt has resulted in new and additional obligations on the part of property or business owners and still does nothing to stem the tide of these frivolous lawsuits.

Changes to the standards used by governments and Judges, to evaluate ADA accessibility, have been made. Several of these standards now oblige property owners or business owners to make additional changes or face litigation. For small businesses, this is a disaster. Changes made as a result of a prior fee driven lawsuit cannot be used as a defense to a lawsuit claiming violation of new standards. This changed law gives these groups new reasons to file lawsuits against previously sued business owners or property owners.

Continue reading "The ADA is Changing Again, Are You Ready For Another Round of Lawsuits?" »