The Americans with Disabilities Act was meant to open doors — not bankrupt small businesses. Yet, in California, a handful of opportunistic lawyers and serial litigants have twisted the law into a weapon, targeting shops over razor-thin technicalities.
I’m Luke, and in March, my family’s boba store in Sunnyvale was one such victim. The issue? Our handicap table height was an inch off.
My immigrant parents are hard-working and law-abiding citizens. Our store passed city inspection without ever receiving complaints or notice about that table. Had we known, we would have corrected the problem immediately. And we did that very weekend. But what should have been a $25 table replacement became a $10,000 legal ordeal. One we couldn’t afford.
We believe these serial litigants are after money, not accessibility, and their “high-frequency” litigation is only evidence. If anything, litigation redirects the business owner’s focus from fixing the issue to fighting the lawsuit.
The Institute of Legal Reform notes the likely common strategy: sending lawyers and commissioners to various locations and taking measurements to see if businesses are ADA-compliant. Unsurprisingly, some judges have pushed back. In 2022, a federal judge in California required a serial ADA litigant to prove he intended to return to the businesses he sued and without such proof, there were no grounds to proceed in court.
And this isn’t an isolated case. From Tai Pan in Palo Alto to Lola’s Chicken Shack in Alameda, these are only the businesses that make headlines. The same quadriplegic plaintiff filed more than 4,000 ADA lawsuits in California in 2020-21 — averaging about one lawsuit per day. In 2024, California ADA Title III lawsuits rebounded to 3,252 filings. It’s clear this is a widespread issue.
Our state has consistently remained one of the top three states for such lawsuits because of financial incentive. California’s approach prioritizes litigation over remediation, and it blatantly violates the spirit of the ADA.
Successful programs like San Francisco’s Accessibility Barrier Removal Fund pool together tax dollars (from Senate Bill 1186 that taxes business permits) to subsidize barrier removal or better train inspectors to check ADA compliance. But these programs aren’t addressing the core issue.
Fortunately, we currently have faith in a policy solution: California Senate Bill 84.
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So what does it entail? SB 84’s core is its 120-day timeline: Businesses owners who are served with formal notice of ADA violations are provided with 120 days to fix them.
Critics have raised reasonable objections we want to address. Yes, SB 84 may pause litigation — but for a good reason: The cure period provides businesses with breathing room to make necessary changes without the immediate threat of liability. And no, this does not incentivize businesses to ignore accessibility. Paired with city building inspections, SB 84 actually helps businesses to fix issues that may have slipped through the cracks — especially minority-run small businesses that are disproportionately targeted, unfamiliar with the legal system and simply want to comply so they won’t be targeted again.
Far from rolling back hard-won accessibility rights, this reform strikes the balance our communities deserve — maintaining robust access guarantees while protecting business from exploitative lawsuits. Given that violations are not fixed within 120 days (in general), plaintiffs can proceed with the lawsuit and recover the full suite of ADA remedies. This design preserves the ADA’s deterrent power while fundamentally disincentivizing frivolous litigation.
SB 84 is a common-sense, bipartisan bill that was passed nearly unanimously in the Senate. However, it’s now sitting in the Assembly Judiciary Committee, awaiting a hearing that is not guaranteed, because select legislators feel as though this bill attacks those with disabilities and delayed it — despite the fact that it’s clearly tangible profit-seeking abuse that needs to be stopped.
Every day SB 84 is delayed, more businesses receive shakedown lawsuits that do nothing for accessibility. If you believe California should champion both disability rights and immigrant-owned small businesses, join us.
Email the members of the Assembly Judiciary Committee and your own district’s state Senate and Assembly representatives. Raise awareness at community events and City Council meetings. More importantly, sign our online petition we will present to state legislators and community leaders.
Every voice matters. Each show of support reminds Sacramento that this is not a fringe issue but a statewide demand: protect accessibility, protect small businesses and protect the spirit of the ADA.
California deserves a justice system that prioritizes access over abuse. Let’s make sure SB 84 becomes law.
Arissa Cao lives in San Jose and attends Valley Christian High School. Jadon Li lives in Fremont and attends Mission San Jose High School. Luke Wu lives in Campbell and attends The Harker School.
(5) comments
Bravo to you for bringing more awareness to this obvious abuse. It's been going on for a long time, since I lived in Sacramento where it started. I knew someone who had to close their restaurant as a result. Their downtown mall space unfortunately had a small second level that was only accessible by stairs. The downstairs was huge and even offered a patio. This was early on before the scam was more pronounced. I really hope this bill passes. It should have been fixed long ago and thought it had been. So very sorry to see that it is STILL a very real issue which is dumbfounding to me. Thanks for bringing updated awareness to this!
As a disabled individual (Wheelchair), we all need to work together to male a better world.
I feel that our Cities need to help small business owners with compliance. The City collects a annual Business License Fee, but maybe they should add an ADA clause with copliance informatiion.
For profit Litigation should be prohibited. The goal should be to address and fix the problems using common sense.
Well done, Luke. You are a good young man for standing up for your parents to these predatory losers that try to fleece small businesses like the mafia. These people are legit evil - and they have lawyers that operate pro bono because they know they are getting paid at the end. I remember when good old Gerardo Hernandez the dirty rat was terrorizing our local businesses this way and almost shut down the Dutch Goose. As a small business owner myself who works with my father - I applaud your moxy. Local politicians and bureaucrats do not care about any of us - the only thing that catalyzes change is public opinion these days - because "fair" does not exist. The sooner you understand that no matter what "side" is in power - the little guy will always be thrown to the wayside - so we need to do for ourselves and be proactive - the better of you will be. Good luck to you and your family.
Well stated, MichKosk. One has to wonder how much law associations and/or their members are contributing to Democrats in campaign funds. Perhaps their “lobbying” has resulted in nothing being done all this time, as handfuls of opportunistic lawyers have enlisted serial litigants. Good luck to your efforts but don’t be surprised if the bill fails. Special interests hold more sway over California politicians than the electorate does. And to MichKosk’s point, remember any treachery from politicians who vote against the bill and vote them out.
Thank you to this promising group of young people for raising awareness about this scam. You are really getting an education about the inner workings of Sacramento. The road to hell is paved with good intentions- why the lack of urgency to protect small businesses and remedy a problem they created? Please remember which party holds a super majority in the state legislature when it comes time for you to vote in the future.
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