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DENVER (CBS4)– A Florida man has filed lawsuits against 66 Colorado restaurants and other businesses in the past year, claiming the businesses are in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The 66 lawsuits were filed by Santiago Abreu and his lawyer Jason Weiss, both of whom have been linked to dozens of similar lawsuits in Arizona and Florida.
The Riverbend Eatery in Bailey told CBS4 it was recently sued by Abreu.
In an email the owner Michael Abbondanza wrote, “These attorneys have created a nationwide cottage industry that is very lucrative and has nothing to do with helping the handicapped.”
Abbondanza said the lawsuit might force him to close his doors, “The attorney told me if I gave him $15,000 he will go away. I don’t have it. Thirty jobs in rural Bailey will be lost.”
Abreu’s lawyer, Jason Weiss, refutes the claim. He told CBS4 Abreu suffers from multiple sclerosis and comes to Colorado often for marijuana to treat his condition.
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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.
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The “ADA Education and Reform Act” (HR 3765) was introduced last fall by Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX-2). The bill was passed by the House Judiciary Committee on July 7 and will now be sent to the full House for a vote.
As you know, this legislation is championed by ICSC. The bill is a narrowly targeted proposal addressing an unintended consequence of the ADA – the practice, by certain attorneys, of filing or threatening to file “drive-by” lawsuits with the primary objective being a monetary judgement, not a “fix” to a barrier to access.
Over the years, ICSC has heard from its members about this particular problem. From 2013 to 2014 the number of ADA Title III lawsuits -- those dealing with public accommodation -- surged by more than 63%. In many cases, a single plaintiff filed dozens, even hundreds, of cases across a geographic area alleging violations under the ADA.
Please ask your Representative to support this important bill.
This bill requires the Disability Rights Section of the Department of Justice to develop a program to educate state and local governments and property owners on strategies for promoting access to public accommodations for persons with a disability. The program may include training for professionals to provide a guidance of remediation for potential violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).
The bill prohibits persons from, and subjects violators to a criminal fine for, sending demand letters or other pre-suit notifications alleging a violation of ADA public accommodation requirements if the notification does not specify the circumstances under which an individual was actually denied access. The notification must specify: (1) the address of property, (2) the specific ADA sections alleged to have been violated, (3) whether a request for assistance in removing an architectural barrier was made, and (4) whether the barrier was permanent or temporary.
The bill also prohibits commencement of civil action based on the failure to remove an architectural barrier to access into an existing public accommodation unless: (1) the aggrieved person has provided to the owners or operators a written notice specific enough to identify the barrier, and (2) the owners or operators fail to provide the person with a written description outlining improvements that will be made to improve the barrier or they fail to remove the barrier or make substantial progress after providing such a description.
The Judicial Conference of the United States must develop a model program to promote alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to resolve such claims. The model program should include an expedited method for determining relevant facts related to such barriers and steps to resolve accessibility issues before litigation.
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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: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.
- Improper clearance in doorways
- Grab bars of the wrong length
- Toilet paper dispensers in the wrong place
- Bar countertops placed too high
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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