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Below is a summary of some of the many key provisions of the new law:

 
  • A new state Disability Commission shall be formed that will be responsible for evaluating and providing recommendations on disability access issues impacting the disabled public and California businesses;

  • A system of state-certified access specialists will be implemented and businesses will be able to have their property inspected by a CASp certified inspector and certified for compliance. The business then would be permitted to display a CASp-issued numbered, watermarked “Disability Access Certificate.”

  • Qualified defendants (those who have had their properties CASp-inspected or have a CASp determination pending) will have the opportunity to take advantage of a new court procedure if they are sued for construction-based (or access barrier) disability access violations. Such procedure includes the right to request a 90-day stay of the action so that the court can evaluate the report and certification issued to the defendant by a certified access specialist, and to request an early evaluation conference with the court to resolve the lawsuit before protracted and expensive litigation ensues.

  • Whenever a plaintiff’s attorney sends a demand for money or serves a complaint on a property owner or operator regarding construction-based access violations, he/she must include a notice detailing the legal rights and obligations of the property owner or operator. The notice must be in the form of a state approved Judicial Council form, which will be available by mid-2009.

  • Plaintiffs in construction-related disability access lawsuits will only be allowed to recover damages for the violations of disability access requirements that they personally encountered or that deterred them from access on a particular occasion. With respect to deterrence, a plaintiff must, among other requirements, have had actual knowledge of the violation or violations in order to be deterred, based on the circumstances of the individual’s experience.

  • Statutory damages available under the Unruh Act or the Disabled Persons Act can only be assessed on a “per occasion” basis, rather than on the number of violations of construction-related accessibility standards identified at the place of public accommodation. In other words, not every violation of a construction-related disability access standard constitutes a separate offense entitling a plaintiff to a separate award of statutory damages, even if the plaintiff personally encountered more than one violation.

  • It is important to note that there is nothing in SB 1608 which would set up constraints on our important civil rights laws. There are no preconditions that a person with a disability or his or her attorney must meet in order to file a civil rights action for a disability access violation.

  • SB 1608 does not affect a person’s ability to collect damages or reduce a business’ liability for damages for a violation.

    • The full text of SB 1608 can be found at:

     

    http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/sen/sb_1601-1650/sb_1608_bill_20080928_chaptered.pdf

    The full text of the CASp regulations can be found at:

     

    http://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/dsa/casp/Voluntary_CASp_Regs.pdf