WHY DO YOU NEED A CASp INSPECTION?

Over the past three years, there have been more lawsuits filed in federal court for the Eastern District of California than in the Northern, Central and Southern District combined. This is in large part due to several professional plaintiffs who seek out violations to profit by a business’s failure to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA became law in 1990 when President George H.W. Bush signed the legislation that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities and several other settings. Any business that has a physical location that is visited by the public, is deemed to be a public accommodation and falls within the long reach of the ADA’s prohibitions concerning architectural barriers.

 

In California, the Unruh Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and a breach of this Act is a civil rights violation. One consequence of this is that as a civil rights violation, there is no "grandfathering." Secondly, a violation creates a private cause of action with a minimum $4,000 penalty per violation. It is this penalty that appears to be the driving force behind the many lawsuits that have been filed.

 

In 2008, the California legislature passed SB1608 that was written to reduce spurious litigation and increase accessibility by creating a class of licensed professionals qualified to identify violations and provide a certification that a business is incompliance. The Certified Access Specialist was born (CASp).

 

In 2012, SB1186 was enacted. One of its provisions reduced the $4,000 penalty to $1,000, if a business owner can demonstrate that it relied upon a CASp inspection that stated that the business was in compliance or that it fixed any violation within 60 days of being served with a summons and complaint.

 

The ADA does not require 100% immediate compliance with the law. It only requires that a business implement readily achievable reductions in architectural barriers. If a business owner receives a CASp inspection and reports and establishes a schedule to make corrections over a reasonable period of time given the expense involved, the business has complied with the law and has a good faith defense to the lawsuits that are swarming through the courts.

 

ADA Access Consulting, LLC is a licensed CASp inspection service that can help reduce the risk of lawsuits for violations of the ADA. Its inspector is a licensed California General Contractor. While our company does not contract to correct any defects identified, because of our inspector's status as both a CASp and a B-1 contractor, we're in a position to assist a business to create a reasonable time-line to meet the readily achievable standards of the law.