Today, Congressman Ted Poe (TX-02) along with Congressmen David Jolly and Doug Collins introduced H.R. 3765, The ADA Education and Reform Act of 2015. This legislation will curb frivolous lawsuits filed by cash-hungry attorneys and plaintiffs that abuse the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).
"The ADA is a vital law that is meant to make American businesses more accessible to the disabled. But the integrity of this important law is being threatened. The vast majority of small businesses in America strive to serve their customers to the best of their ability -- relying on the ADA as another tool to help ensure that costumers with disabilities can enjoy the services that they provide," said Congressman Poe. "Most of these business owners believe that they are in compliance with the ADA and have even passed local and state inspections. However, despite their best attempts, certain attorneys and their pool of serial plaintiffs troll for minor, easily correctable ADA infractions so they can file a lawsuit and make some cash. There is a now whole industry made up of people who prey on small business owners and file unnecessary abusive lawsuits that abuse both the ADA and the business owners. This bill will change that by requiring that the business owners have time to fix what is allegedly broken. If they fail to correct the infractions the plaintiff retains all of their rights to pursue legal action. This legislation restores the purpose of the ADA: to provide access and accommodation to disabled Americans, not to fatten the wallets of attorneys"