[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 43 (Thursday, March 17, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H1422]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            FRIVOLOUS ADA LAWSUITS ARE FLOODING OUR COUNTRY

  (Mr. CONAWAY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CONAWAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to a wave 
of frivolous lawsuits flooding my district. These lawsuits use the 
Americans with Disabilities Act, a law that has done tremendous good in 
our Nation, as legal cover to sue small mom-and-pop businesses for 
often unnoticed and easily correctible ADA violations.
  Businesses that have passed local inspections are often unaware that 
any ADA violation exists until a lawsuit arrives in their mailbox. 
Instead of demanding the violation be fixed, these lawsuits try to make 
a quick buck by settling out of court. The businesses have little 
choice: pay the settlement or pay expensive business-ending attorney 
fees to fight the charge.
  Often these attorneys, as in my district, don't even live in the 
State. Some use Google Earth to find violations and then file these 
lawsuits remotely. This is wrong. It takes advantage of the ADA, those 
with disabilities, and small businesses that thought they were in 
compliance.
  That is why I have cosponsored the ADA Education and Reform Act, 
which we believe will fix this problem. I will work to get this bill 
passed so west Texans won't be abused by predatory attorneys who care 
more about money than helping those with disabilities.

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