Bipartisan Calvert bill would uphold Americans with Disabilities Act values while cracking down on frivolous lawsuits

Bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) would relieve the financial burden on small businesses complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) while honoring the bill’s original intent.

Calvert and U.S Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) introduced H.R. 620 to crackdown on abusive ADA lawsuits. The measure would provide business operators notice of ADA violations, 60 days to outline improvements being made to address them and 120 days to remove the infraction.

“The goal of the Americans with Disabilities Act is to provide access for the disabled — it’s not to give unscrupulous trial lawyers the opportunity to abuse small businesses,” Calvert said. “California has become ground zero for abusive ADA lawsuits and I have heard from many of our job creators who have fallen victim to abusive ADA lawsuits that are not aimed at improving access for the disabled. Protecting small businesses from abusive lawsuits and ensuring disabled Americans have adequate access are not mutually exclusive goals.”

Under H.R. 620, failure to respond to an ADA grievance within 60 days and to correct the issue within 120 days would enable an ADA lawsuit against a business owner to move forward.

“I appreciate Mr. Poe’s leadership on this issue and I know his expertise and service on the House Committee on the Judiciary will help ensure that H.R. 620 makes it across the finish line,” Calvert, a former small business owner, said. “I look forward to working with him to ensure that serial litigants are no longer rewarded for taking advantage of an important and meaningful law.”

Joining Calvert and Poe in introducing the bill are cosponsors U.S. Reps. Scott Peters (D-CA), Ami Bera (D-CA), Jackie Speier (D-CA), and Mike Conaway (R-TX).