
The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday that business which violate the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, even if unintentionally, can be sued for damages.
As Mike McKee reported in The Recorder legal newspaper, Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar concluded that the court's decision was a reasonable interpretation of the state Legislature's decision in 1992 to amend the state's Unruh Civil Rights Act to include ADA violations.
She wrote: "A plaintiff who establishes a violation of the ADA, therefore, need not prove intentional discrimination in order to obtain damages under (Civil Code) section 52."
While the ADA provides only injunctive relief whether the harm was intentional or not, Section 52 of the Unruh Act provides for damages of at least $4,000 -- or as much as three times the actual harm.
The case, Munson v. Del Taco, Inc., involved a disabled man who sued Del Taco after complaining that its restaurant near San Bernardino didn't provide disabled parking or handicapped-accessible public toilets. Del Taco later spent $75,000 on renovations, McKee reported.
The Supreme Court in its decision also noted that the state Legislature "was informed -- and may be presumed to have been aware -- that damages under the Unruh Civil Rights Act might be awarded for denial of ADA mandated access without proof of intentional discrimination."
But the Legislature, in approving Senate Bill 1608 during the last legislative session, chose not to include requiring such notice or other proof of intent to discriminate. The bill, which became law January 1, will improve disability access to public locations and reduce predatory lawsuits by lawyers taking advantage of complex access rules.
The court wrote: "Even if we agreed with defendant that adding an intent requirement to the Unruh Civil Rights Act would be warranted to curb abuse, we would not be free to substitute our own judgment for that of the Legislature."