Quadriplegic sues 8 Tri-Cities businesses with what chamber calls ‘drive-by lawsuits’

A man with quadriplegia appears on a mission to get longtime Tri-Cities businesses in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Jeremy Johnson has filed eight federal lawsuits over the past two months against restaurants, bars and stores that he says fail to provide full and equal access to disabled customers.

The civil suits list violations — from parking spaces and wheelchair ramps to service counters and bathrooms — that Johnson claims prevented him from enjoying his visit to each business.

The defendants include: SagePort Grille on Columbia Park Trail; Kwick Stop on Swift Boulevard; and Uptown Bar & Grill, Uptown Antique Market, Real Deals, Towne Crier, The Spudnut Shop and Some Bagels, all in Richland’s Uptown Shopping Center.

Now, several of the affected business owners at the Uptown Shopping Center are trying to fight back, not in court but the Washington State Capitol by asking legislators to step in.

They say the lawsuits are like extortion, and not about greater access for those with disabilities in the older building.

Under the ADA law, enacted in 1990, businesses that don’t comply with certain regulations can be sued without warning for discrimination.

The Tri-Cities shops being targeted by Johnson are pushing for legislation that requires written notice of an alleged ADA violation before a lawsuit is filed and 30 days to comply with federal law to avoid legal action.

House Bill 1574 has the backing of more than a dozen lawmakers, including Reps. Brad Klippert and Matt Boehnke, both R-Kennewick.

It also has drawn the support of the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber noted how many small businesses are barely surviving the global coronavirus pandemic, and said the lawsuits could disqualify those owners from applying for COVID-19 grants and assistance.

They had hoped for votes on both the House and Senate floors before the regular legislative session ends this Sunday, and an emergency clause that would make the bill effective immediately.

However, Sen. Andy Billig, the Senate majority leader, informed the chamber on Wednesday that the bill is no longer eligible for consideration this session “because we have passed the relevant cut-off deadlines.”

It will remain an active bill and be eligible for discussion in the next legislative session, he said.

The Tri-City chamber described the legal action taken by Johnson in U.S. District Court as “a rash of ADA ‘drive-by’ lawsuits” brought by an out-of-town private plaintiff.

A drive-by lawsuit is filed by an attorney on behalf of a person who wasn’t necessarily a customer of a store or restaurant but drove by and noticed a violation, like a ramp that is not the proper slope.

Four of the Uptown businesses were visited on the same day in January, with the two others the following day, according to the lawsuit. The two separate businesses were visited in October and November.

While the chamber accuses Johnson of being an outsider, court documents filed in the cases say he lives in Benton County and “travels in the surrounding areas near (the named businesses’) facilities on a regular basis for shopping, dining and entertainment.”

The documents also state that he is a quadriplegic and is required to use a wheelchair.

Johnson’s lawyer, Derek Butz with Enabled Law Group, did not immediately return a message left Thursday by the Tri-City Herald.

The first lawsuit was filed March 12, with the most recent on April 2. The cases have been assigned to Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson.

Vikki Butler of Real Deals Richland, in an email earlier this month to Klippert’s legislative assistant, said many of the businesses being sued by Johnson “will probably lose their businesses over this nonsense. The government has to step in quickly. We are all running out of time.”

Butler and her daughter, Brittini Van Heel, have been running the franchise of Real Deals in the Tri-Cities for eight years. They have called the Uptown Shopping Center home since 2017.

Van Heel told the Tri-City Herald that she was served with a summons in late March with a list of ADA violations. She said the complaint is a replica of the lists received by the other small businesses sued in the Tri-Cities by Johnson and the same Spokane-based lawyer.

One of the allegations she was most concerned about was that the store’s bathroom was not handicap accessible — when it’s not even open for customer use.

She said that since receiving the lawsuit, she has ordered a sign to be placed on the front door making that clear.

“We are just literally trying to make it through COVID first,” Van Heel said. “We’re barely through it and everyone gets hit with this.”

This story was originally published April 23, 2021 at 5:00 AM.