Countersuing ADA litigator pays off for one business
Publisher’s note: Scott Johnson has been making the rounds in South Lake Tahoe, too.
By Nicole Banks, North Sac News
“I almost fell out of my chair.”
That’s the response Johnnie Walker had after learning the judge’s verdict.
Those legal costs were the result of one letter. That letter was from Scott Johnson, an ADA litigator from Carmichael. Johnson’s letters have appeared on doorsteps throughout the state from restaurants to dentist offices to gas stations. The notice states that the business must become compliant with various changes to disabled signage and parking as required by the American’s with Disabilities Act. It gives notice to alter the property and/or to settle with Johnson monetarily. For businesses unaware of the guidelines, it is a shock; some of whom risk shutting down for the cost of paying thousands of dollars in fees or construction for the proper wheelchair slopes, redesigning of the interior of a location and parking expansions.
For Johnnie Walker, it meant he was getting sued. He manages the property at 6500 Watt Ave., but wasn’t the one to receive the letter. It was his tenant, operators of a massage therapy office.
“I’d never seen the guy before in my life. Neither had the people leasing my property. In court he had no receipts, no proof he came to the business. First I thought it was a joke or something. But it turns out this guy wanted a lot of money.”
He found out what Johnson was doing was neither a joke nor illegal.