ADA Abuse
Last Thursday, Steve and I went to Julian, California. This town was recently a subject of Penn & Teller’s Bullshit! The topic was the Americans with Disabilities Act. It seems that an asshole lawyer (Theodore Pinnock, who is confined to a wheelchair) “rolled” into town and then sent letter to 67 business owners in Julian demanding that they pay him $2,500 each or he would sue because they were not in compliance with the law (ADA). In his letter, he did not even state how they were not in compliance. In some cases, it could have been something as petty as the paper towel dispenser in the bathroom being hung an half inch too high.
This all happened in late 2005. Today, the town is awash in blue wheelchair placards and signs up everywhere stating that modifications are under way and if you need help, they will make an appointment – even after hours – for you to bring your wheelchair (or iron lung) into the store. None of the stores have any restrooms. You can, however, go about a block away to a row of fully ADA compliant restrooms that charge a quarter
per use – no doubt to offset the expense of building them.
I am surprised that the ADA does not consider being poor a disability. Oh, wait, P&T mentioned that the inability to manage finances is a disability under the law.
But it did not stop there? Google the name Theodore Pinnock and you will find that he does this up and down the coast in California. I noticed on Wednesday that many of the antique stores we normally visit have done massive re-arrangement and have less stuff. When I asked where all the dealers went, I was told that they had to clear up their isles in order to be ADA compliant.
The ADA is only one of thousands of pieces of legislation that squash businesses for Bullshit reasons. First thing we do, kill all the Congressmen!