Using the Disabilities Law to Protect Right to a Lap Dance?

Nov. 9 -- Those public service lawyers are at it again — they're out "protecting your rights" — in this case they're enforcing the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Lawyers complain the Wildside Adult Sports Cabaret in West Palm Beach, Fla., violates the act, because among other things, a stairwell in the club prevents people in wheelchairs from getting a lap dance upstairs.

No matter that you can get a lap dance downstairs. He says that room isn't good enough. It's still "discrimination," says the suit, causing "emotional distress." And the club must pay "damages" … and Anthony Brady's legal fees.

Brady has filed more than 80 disability suits. He's sued my employer, claiming some Disney World counters were too high.

Brady has also sued Dave and Donna Batelaan. Now, the Batelaans are odd people to sue. They sell wheelchairs, and are disabled themselves. Having so many disabled customers, they didn't think they really needed a special handicapped parking sign. So Brady sued them for that.

Donna asked, why didn't he just ask us to get a sign? The sign would have cost less than $50. But she and Dave ended up paying Brady $1,600. "It's the settling of the lawsuit that's going to cost us money," Donna said.

Lawyers like Brady can demand such fees because the Americans with Disabilities Act invites disabled people and lawyers (like bounty hunters) to enforce the law by suing (without giving businesses any notice.) Now Brady wrote us that a substantial percentage of the time businesses are notified of violations. But he didn't notify the Batelaans before suing them and a few years ago, I confronted Brady about it.

I asked him why he didn't just call someone who didn't have the required sign and tell them to get one. I told him I thought that would be the decent thing to do if you weren't just looking to run a shakedown racket.

'Shakedown Racket'

Brady said he's not required under the law to make such a phone call, and he objected to my characterization of his work as a "shakedown racket."