Lemoore Chamber to host ADA compliance workshop on Nov. 24 in Civic Auditorium

The workshop will be held on November 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the Lemoore Civic Auditorium.

 The workshop will be geared towards helping local businesses comply with the federal act which seeks to prohibit discrimination and ensure equal opportunities for disable people with regards to employment, government services, public accommodations commercial facilities and transportation.

In the past few months, a pair of Lemoore businesses have been sued by disabled persons seeking unspecified damages for such things as inaccessible handicap parking, improper signage, inadequate ramps etc.

In October it was learned that Lemoore’s Best Buy Market was sued by Kings County resident Rachel Lobato who said the market had inadequate parking and lacked signage for handicapped persons.

 Just recently, another Kings County resident, Angel Aguiniga, filed a lawsuit against the White Top Drive in on West D Street, alleging that the longtime restaurant had an entrance door that was too heavy and difficult to move his wheelchair through; the counter was too high, making it difficult for him to pay his bill; the restroom doorway was not wide enough, and the walkway leading to the restroom was too narrow.

The two lawsuits have a common denominator, the San Jose based Moore Law Firm, run by a husband and wife lawyer team which specializes in ADA lawsuits, and have filed numerous ADA lawsuits in the past few years, including a number of them in Hanford.

Many in the business community consider the lawsuits frivolous. Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation in 2012, Bill 1186, that was supposed to crack down on frivolous lawsuits and prevent attorneys from sending letters to business owners threatening to sue unless they agreed to settle.