Florida Man Files ‘Drive-By’ Lawsuits Against CO Restaurants incl Riverbend

Instead of notifying business owners about his concerns, he filed federal lawsuits against them, said Marla C. Underell, a Durango lawyer representing Orio’s Roadhouse. He’s using law firms in Colorado, Arizona and Florida to file complaints.

Underell characterized Abreu as a “serial plaintiff.”

She has contacted the federal court in Colorado to notify it of “related cases,” in which a common party and law firms file serial lawsuits. Underell and her clients, Rob and Heidi Orio, owners of Orio’s Roadhouse, are considering a counterclaim against Abreu for abuse of process. They also have notified the FBI and Colorado Attorney General’s Office.

BAILEY, Colo. -- A rural Colorado restaurant owner says he is planning to shut down his business because he cannot afford to fight a lawsuit brought by a Florida man alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.)

Michael Abbondanza says when he bought and renovated Riverbend Market and Eatery next to the South Platte River in Bailey, he paid careful attention to county building codes. There’s a wheelchair ramp at the entrance and large stalls in the bathroom with grab bars for the disabled.

But in February, one-time customer Santiago Abreu hit Riverbend with a lawsuit, claiming a number of ADA violations, mostly in the restroom, including:

• Improper clearance in doorways
• Grab bars of the wrong length
• Toilet paper dispensers in the wrong place
• Bar countertops placed too high

Abbondanza is fighting back. He asked a federal judge to appoint him a pro bono attorney. The judge agreed but Abbondanza says he has yet to hear from the attorney appointed to represent him.

But Denver7’s analysis of Abreu’s court records in Colorado show even restaurants represented by attorneys are reaching undisclosed settlements. That leads Abbondanza to say it will likely be too costly to keep fighting the case – he says he plans to shut down his restaurant in October, leaving his 30 employees out of work.

BAILEY, Colo. -- The Riverbend Market and Eatery is closing its doors next month and the owners said it’s because of a lawsuit.

Riverbend employs 30 people and in the 18 months it has been open and it has quickly become one of the busiest restaurants in the area.

But Riverbend is getting ready to close on Oct. 30.

The restaurant is at the center of a lawsuit that alleges it is not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and is discriminatory against people with disabilities.

According to the lawsuit, Abbendanza’s restaurant has 14 ADA violations, including handrails in the bathroom that aren’t long enough, a urinal that is 3 inches too high and a toilet paper holder that is in the wrong spot.

BAILEY, Colo. -- The time has come for a popular Colorado restaurant to close its doors. Its owner says he cannot afford to fight claims of discrimination, which were filed in court by a man from Florida who says the restaurant is not accessible to people with disabilities.

However, the Denver7 Investigates team learned the restaurant, Riverbend Market and Eatery, might not have to close permanently as the owner first feared. It's set to close this coming Sunday, but could reopen in months to come.

Michael Abbondanza, who first shared his story with Denver7 Investigates in August, secured an attorney who's willing to defend him in court for free.

To that end, Abreu and his attorneys have turned down every request to speak with Denver7 Investigates on-camera.

BAILEY, Colo. -- The owner of a popular Colorado restaurant is claiming victory after he successfully fought back against a serial lawsuit filer, who claimed the business discriminated against people with disabilities.

The Riverbend Market and Eatery closed in October.

Before Patterson was involved, one would have thought the restaurant was on a crusade against people with disabilities and that it took months to make the restaurant more accessible. But that's just not true.

"Took two hours," Abbondanza said of the few repairs he had to make. "It was under $250 if I'm remembering correctly."

Patterson is particularly interested in how abruptly Abreu and Weiss dropped the case against Abbondanza -- just days before Abreu was scheduled to do a deposition with her in Boulder. She also said they dropped the case without ever bothering to confirm if the restaurant remedied the few ADA violations it had.

Abbondanza hopes to reopen the place before the start of summer.

BAILEY, Colo. -- A restaurant owner wants to get even and is turning the table on attorneys who filed waves of ADA lawsuits against businesses across Colorado, including his.

Michael Abbondanza, who Denver7 has profiled since 2016 , claims in a 39-page lawsuit that the attorneys are committing fraud and abusing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

In his lawsuit against Abreu's attorneys in Florida and Colorado, he alleges that they "formed a criminal enterprise by using the Americans with Disabilities Act to institute actions based on fictional plaintiffs, false allegations of injury, and false allegations of standing to collect quick settlements from Colorado businesses and citizens."

Abbondanza and Patterson said there's no evidence Abreu is a real person. When they demanded to depose Abreu, Patterson said the opposing counsel quickly moved to dismissed their own case.