Has Your Business Been Sued By Pacific Trial Attorneys Or These Plaintiffs? How To Defend These Unruh Civil Rights Act Lawsuits – Discrimination, Disability & Sexual Harassment
27 November 2023
Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP
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Pacific Trial Attorneys, as legal counsel, have filed hundreds
of lawsuits for alleged violations of the California Unruh Civil
Rights Act, California Civil Code ยง 51 et seq. and/or the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Based in Newport Beach, CA, Pacific Trial Attorneys is a law
firm representing plaintiffs in a large number of accessibility
lawsuits against businesses, often focused on website issues.
Generally, these lawsuits are filed by serial plaintiffs through
their attorneys. Serial plaintiffs file numerous (sometimes
hundreds) of lawsuits, often similar in nature. Pacific Trial
Attorneys has historically filed such litigation on behalf of
one of these plaintiffs:
- Cheryl Thurston
- Brittany Mejico
- Dominick Martin
- Rusty Rendon
- Luis Licea
- Isabel Rendon
- Drew Hunthausen
- Walter Mitchell
- Anita Ogletree
These lawsuit show no signs of stopping. Each lawsuit includes a
summons as a cover page informing you that you
have been sued and requiring a response. Next is the
complaint itself, which generally looks something
like this:
The complaints have often stated in the first paragraph,
“As recently recognized by the Supreme Court of the United
States, ‘The Internet’s prevalence and power have changed
the dynamics of the national economy.'”
It goes on to allege that “Plaintiff is a blind individual
who requires screen reading software to read website content arid
access the internet. Defendant [Business Name]
(‘Defendant’) maintains its website, [Website Address] (the
‘Website’) in such a way that the Website contains numerous
access barriers preventing Plaintiff, and other blind and
visually-impaired individuals, from gaining equal access to the
Website.” See paragraph 4 of the complaint.
Individuals who are blind generally use screen reading software
that scans a website page and reads it aloud to them; websites
should be coded to be compatible with such software. It is possible
the complaint might allege physical accessibility barriers at a
retail location, instead of website barriers.
In any event, the first thing you’ll need to do is
respond to the complaint within 21 or 30 days, depending on what
court it’s filed in. Otherwise, the plaintiff can
request a default judgment be entered against you by the court for
failure to respond.
Generally, lawsuits by Pacific Trial Attorneys are filed in
Superior Court of the State of California, which is state court. In
state court, a defendant has 30 days from the date
of service (i.e., receiving the complaint) to respond to the
complaint. In federal court, the response must be filed within 21
days of service. Many of the lawsuits are filed in Superior Court
for the County of Los Angeles but could be filed
in other counties in California depending on the facts involved.
Generally, responding to the complaint involves filing an answer
that either admits or denies the various allegations and asserts
relevant affirmative defenses helpful to the case, such as lack of
standing or statute of limitations issues.
It might be more prudent, however, to file a motion to dismiss
if there are strong defenses. It is important to hire experienced
ADA/Unruh counsel to represent you and advise you on the viable
defenses for your specific case, such as JMBM’s ADA Compliance
and Defense attorneys.
You and your counsel should determine if the claims alleged in
the complaint are valid. In other words, is there liability? Some
lawsuits lack merit and can be defended or dismissed by the court.
See my articles on these topics:
The ADA Does Not Require Website
Accessibility Perfectionby Stuart Tubis
How To Defend An ADA Or Unruh Lawsuit For
Lack Of Standingby Stuart Tubis
California Unruh Civil Rights Act Law
Basicsby Stuart Tubis
Full Article Archive
JMBM can review your website for you and tell you whether it
complies with the relevant law. The standards that courts generally
reference to determine if a website is accessible are the Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA Standards.
Generally, we provide a confidential Website Accessibility Report
for our clients validating that the website is accessible or
providing details and HTML code-level testing of the issues found
on the site, as well as advice and guidance on how to make updates
if needed. See the example excerpt using a hypothetical business
below:
If there is liability, the next step is to explore a possible
settlement of the case. The goal of this approach is to negotiate
the best terms possible given the facts and circumstances of the
case. We always seek to lower the settlement amount for our clients
as far as possible, provide plenty of time to update the website,
and obtain a full release of liability with complete dismissal of
the lawsuit. In settlement negotiations, resolving the lawsuit in
the most efficient way possible is the objective.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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