Introduction: The rights of Kansans with disabilities are under attack and being used as a test case to export this horrible policy to other states. The Kansas Legislature is moving quickly to pass legislation that will punish individuals, attorneys, and law firms for filing ADA complaints even if the business is not compliant with the law. This legislation is much worse than the notification bills we have fought for years. It makes ADA notification acts look like child’s play. If passed, other states will follow suit. We are asking national, state, and local organizations to sign on to the statement below.
Letter:

We the undersigned strongly oppose the unprecedented attack on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) contained in Kansas Senate Substitute for HB 2016. This dangerous bill, which has been fast-tracked through a procedural shortcut called a “gut and go”, would effectively take away the ADA rights of Kansans with disabilities to challenge accessibility violations by public accommodations. Because Kansas law can’t change federal law, the bill uses a “back door” approach to take away Kansans’ ADA rights.

When the ADA was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush, Senator Bob Dole (Republican – Kansas) said, “The ADA is fair and balanced legislation that carefully blends the rights of people with disabilities with the legitimate needs of the American business community.” Unfortunately, special interests lobbyists for businesses now want to undo the balance struck in the ADA by Senator Bob Dole by punishing people with disabilities who have no choice but to access the courts to make businesses accessible.

The design of this bill is downright diabolical. Under this bill a Kansan who brings an ADA claim (whether in federal or state court) can then be sued in state court by the same business violating the ADA. This could make the person with a disability pay the business' attorney fees and costs not only for their countersuit against the person with the disability but also the businesses fees and costs for defending against the original ADA access violation suit. Even if the person with a disability wins their accessibility lawsuit, they could still have to pay some or all of those fees and costs. The person with the disability also gets nothing to reimburse them their attorney fees and costs if the business loses its lawsuit against them. Under this bill, the rules are different for businesses. In fact, the bill says that attorney’s fees and costs paid to the business “shall” be ordered by the judge (previously it said “may”). The entire bill is outrageous and nefarious. This bill will be used by bad actors for evil purposes.

It gets worse. Under the bill, the Kansas court can also award triple the amount of attorney’s fees as punitive damages to the business, but NOT to the person with a disability whose ADA rights were violated. Again, all of this can happen even if the business was found to have violated the ADA. The ADA was specifically set up to make society accessible, without punitive damage awards on either side. Now business lobbyists want to undo the balance struck in the ADA. They want to warp scales of justice by punishing disabled people who are simply forced to use the courts to make businesses accessible.
This bill won’t just have a “chilling effect” on the ability of Kansans with disabilities to enforce their ADA rights. This bill ships ADA rights off to the deep freeze of Siberia! People with disabilities are often forced to live on extremely fixed incomes (SSI disability is only $914 per month). The significant threat of having to pay the business' expensive monetary damages, attorney’s fees (for both their attorney and the business' high-priced attorney) and other costs will so greatly intimidate Kansans with disabilities that most simply will not file ADA complaints, even when legitimate. Attorneys will stop filing accessibility claims on behalf of Kansans with disabilities because the bill allows the business to also sue them along with their clients. Businesses will get a free pass to violate the ADA with impunity, knowing they won’t be held accountable.

If passed, this bill would turn back the disability rights of Kansans by more than 30 years, back to the dark times before the ADA.

We are also extremely concerned that Kansas is being used as a guinea pig by powerful national business lobbyists. Kansas is the test case for this horrible bill. If this bill passes in Kansas, we know that other states will follow suit. The impact will be catastrophic across the nation, as states play a game of “race to the bottom” to dismantle disability rights.

Finally, this bill is unnecessary. Kansas already has remedies in current law and case law that would allow businesses to hold bad actors accountable for frivolous lawsuits, including:

- K.S.A. 60-211(c) allows for sanctions in Kansas for frivolous lawsuits.
- Almost all jurisdictions in the United States have laws similar to Kansas. For example, in New York, N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 22 Section 130-1.1.
- Kansas common law allows for the civil action of Abuse of Process. PIK CIVL 127.80. This common law can already accomplish in a far more reasonable manner was this bill seeks to do. 
- K.S.A. 60-901 allows for general restraining orders to prevent unfair and abusive litigation.

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