I came across a story in the San Francisco Weekly. It moves me to sadness and anger. The article follows the lawyer Tom Frankovich who sues and threatens to sue small businesses over Americans with Disabilities Act violations. His clients claim establishments are not accessible and difficult if not impossible for people with disabilities to navigate.

There are a few general concerns I brought out of this article by Ron Russell.

The abuse of lawsuits. Frankovich has a few “frequent fliers,” disabled people who have filed cases with him multiple and even hundreds of times against business owners for providing inadequate faculties for people with disabilities. One of the people is reported to have visited four different places in less then 24 hours and subsequently filed suits against all of them. If these people really wanted to affect change, they would have brought their problems to the owners’ attention before starting litigation. A manager can start changes on that day, while the courthouse is a long walk or ride away.

The conflict between different laws. A federal disability law and a state law are in conflict and compliance with both is sometimes impossible.

People can get away with nonsense and even crimes by claiming to represent the voiceless and helpless. Every time a frivolous lawsuit is filed in the name of greed, the real concerns of the minority are hurt. A few bad apples can sour the whole batch of ADA cases and ruin the important ones.

The article relates how Frankovich sees people who do not comply:

He sees non-ADA compliers as “scofflaws” who merit no sympathy. “Lawsuits are the only language these people understand,” he says. “Unless you pound them into submission, nothing will ever change.”

However, if a person who used a wheelchair were to visit the office of Frankovich, s/he would be out of luck. From the SF Weekly again:

Nineteen steps above the street and without an elevator, the yellow three-story building that has served as the nerve center for countless ADA lawsuits is itself inaccessible to the disabled. The man who’s built a career tormenting the law’s non-compliers as scofflaws — and making them pay — must arrange off-site meetings to confer face-to-face with anyone in a wheelchair.

If the impression I get from the article is correct, there is a very hot place in hell prepared for people like Frankovich.