The California State Assembly once again failed small businesses up and down our state for its failure to pass SB 585 before the July 4th break.
SB 585 is critical legislation that needs immediate action. For decades now, many small business owners have been embroiled in legal battles that have forced them to stare down the prospect of their own financial ruin.
And why you ask? Because of the ever-growing number of unfettered and meritless lawsuit abuses being waged against small businesses in our state by plaintiffs and greedy trial attorneys.
This problem has reached a peak in recent years, with many small businesses being forced to shut their doors, lay off employees or even flee the state. In an important attempt to “fix” this issue, the California Senate did put forward and passed SB 585 in 2023.
If passed into law this session, the legislation would address statutory damages, attorney fees and the accessibility claims process. This bill also protects local businesses from unfair legal attacks, all while reaffirming the rights of disabled Californians. Rather than closing the door to just lawsuits, the bill would realign the incentives of trial attorneys to pursue justice and not personal enrichment.
But what has the Assembly done since? It has welcomed the legislation with deafening silence. SB 585 is a no-brainer for the Assembly to pass and small businesses and many concerned citizens like me are perplexed that it hasn’t.
All this context is important because California remains a hotspot for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility litigation. In 2023, 2,519 accessibility lawsuits were filed in California – second only to New York. Most lawsuits allege that a restaurant, store, or its parking lot fails to meet any numerous accessibility standards. For example, if a mirror in a restaurant was an inch too high by ADA standards, there was no “warning” to the business owner, only a costly lawsuit, and no fix. SB 585 has language that will notify businessowners of an ADA violation and a timeframe to make a correction rather than go to court. This would get to the root of the problem and not just issue an undeserved payout to a lawyer for filing the paperwork. Unfortunately for California’s small businesses, this commonsense bill never made it out of the Judicial Committee.
In order to make California competitive in attracting small businesses and startups in the way it once was, we must address the problem of rampant lawsuit abuse. The Assembly must seize the chance to produce an economic win for our residents, and it ought to be jumping at the opportunity. Why would any legislator oppose such a bill?
Time will tell if SB 585 will be reintroduced, but if not, it is high time we as concerned citizens question our lawmakers why they have been so lethargic in acting. For the sake of California’s small business community and disabled Californians exploited by trial attorneys, we need a victory in the war against lawsuit abuse within our state. SB 585 is a critical next step that demands action today.
Written by: Victor Gómez, Executive Director, California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CA CALA)
Thanks for the well written article and concern on why SB 585 was ignored for now. The small businesses have no protection and most of the frivolous lawsuits end in hefty settlements as it is more expensive to fight. The business community needs this common sense bill to be passed. Any time a code enforcement officer visits a business and wants a correction. They give time to fix. Once passed the frivolous lawsuits will end.
I couldn’t agree with you more. However, I am pessimistic about the California Legislature’s motivation to approve this bill due to the powerful lobby of trial lawyers. Follow the money.