The Missouri Legislature is fighting back against predatory trial attorneys who have made a fortune off the state’s small businesses.
Missouri lawmakers have unanimously passed a bill that aims to protect small businesses from these attorneys who claim the business websites are not compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).
The legislation would allow businesses the chance to resolve the alleged websites problems before settling. It is sponsored by state Sen. Brad Hudson, R-Cape Fair, and Rep. Brian Seitz, R-Branson.
“I hate bullies. You know, we’ve got over 8,000 small businesses in the state,” said Brad Jones, State Director of the National Federation of Independent Business.
He told Missourinet the attorneys have threatened to sue dozens of Missouri businesses, then offer to settle out of court for $10,000 to $15,000.
“They are asking for just the right amount of money that from a business standpoint, it’s probably in your best interest to just pay them off. Because if you take it to court, then you’re looking at really big money. You’re talking six figures. It is nothing more than a shakedown,” said Jones.
Jones cited a Kansas City trial attorney he said has sent roughly 70 lawsuit threats.
“They said, you either fix your website or we will sue you. They have one blind plaintiff for all of these settlement letters. They said, ‘By the way, we’ll settle this for you.” said Jones.
According to Jones, the attorneys make a mockery of the Americans with Disabilities Act because he said there is no federal law compliance that is directly related to websites.
“They’re very specific about things that you need to do if you’re a restaurant or something. In other words, you’ve got to have so many handicapped spots, right? The bathrooms have to be so, you know, the stalls have to be so wide for wheelchairs. They are not very specific about what it is that makes a website compliant,” said Jones.
He said the attorneys are alleging things like improper font size, audio is not loud enough, and the website lacks an audio option to read the wording out loud.
“They don’t discriminate against hardly any business. They’ve had restaurants in St. Louis, a couple of entertainment resorts down at the Lake of the Ozarks. They’ve certainly been in Branson. But I think the one that really bugged me the worst is they actually sent one of these settlement letters to a sheltered workshop,” said Jones.
He cited one Missouri business that has even been hit three separate times with such lawsuit threats.
It’s now Gov. Mike Kehoe’s turn to decide whether to support the bill.
For more information on Senate Bill 907, click here.
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