Former Florida councilman has filed 139 ADA lawsuits
April 30th, 2008From the Palm Beach Post:
Former Riviera Beach city councilman Allen Fox is on a crusade to make businesses accessible, filing lawsuits challenging barriers that make it difficult or impossible for him to navigate their premises in his wheelchair. He’s filed 139 lawsuits personally, with the help of lawyer Samuel Aurilio. Eight lawsuits with nearly identical claims were filed on one day last month alone.
Critics say the passage of the ADA has created a cottage industry for unscrupulous lawyers, who can cash in because the law requires the losing side to pay attorney fees. Fox’s lawsuits rarely go to trial because business owners generally agree to renovate and pay Aurilio’s fees. “It’s a racket,” said an attorney who has represented business owners against the pair.
Another attorney who represents people with disabilities blames Congress for crafting a measure that has no enforcement mechanism and no penalty for violating it — an anomaly among civil rights laws.
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May 3rd, 2009 at 7:32 am
My son, diagnosed with ADHD in 2001, has been denied accommodations at a private Christian school in Jacksonville, Fl the entire 11 years he has attended. Now in 10th grade, their refusal to give him the extended time on tests and quizzes his educational psychologist has recommended in 2007 and 2009 has harmed him in numerous ways. Aside from the obvious negative emotional and psychological effects, his GPA is lower which prevents him from making the grades necessary to take higher level classes (his IQ is 140 and he wants to be a doctor), sabotages his ability to qualify for a Bright Futures scholarship or any other scholarship that may have been offered him, will potentially deny him the opportunity to go to the college of his choice…..
I’ve recently learned that private schools do have to abide by the ADA laws, and now the school is making minimal accommodations, but the refuse to give him extended time stating any student requesting extended time must first be granted extended time by the SAT or ACT Boards. This extended time isn’t even requested until 8 weeks prior to students taking the Board Exam when the student is about to enter 12th grade!! The new “accommodations” policy simply states they will make accommodations on an individual basis according to the determination of the accommodations committee.
The “accommodations committee” is the Vice Principal of Guidance who says they will never give extra time. In addition, she is the one who writes the letter requesting the extra time for students and has threatened another family fighting for extended time at this school. She told her, “Let me make one thing perfectly clear Mrs. —, “That paperwork to give your child extended time for the college board exam comes across my desk. I am the one who writes that letter for your son to have extended time. You and I need to get along!” It is clearly a tactic they use to refuse to give time. They are causing so much harm to so many children!
There is a cancer of discrimination at this school which is owned by a very large church. I’ve taken the issue to the board and they are lied to by the school’s administration and they say the administration is doing everything correctly. The administrators even told the board they were giving my son extended time, but can offer no proof. This is the only school my our children have ever attended because it is a Christian, college prep school and there isn’t a good, affordable option fro us. The best option would be to send them to a school that costs $19K per year! This school is great unless you have a child with a disability.
The Vice Principal of Guidance told me, “We don’t want to be a school that makes accommodations. There are schools out there for kids like that and we are not it! It is an answer to prayer when kids like this leave. Thank you, Jesus!” When I tried to explain how this hurts children and asked to go to the board and Pastor ____ and administration, she said, “If you go to the board or administration, you’re life will be made miserable here by administration.
How can a school continue to get away with causing so much harm to children? Why are there not any penalties for these schools who are willfully and repeatedly discriminating against innocent children with disabilities? This should be a crime!!!