Scott Johnson:
Since litigation is so expensive, he extorts early settlements and avoids court trials. There are very few trials with Mr. Scott. I am unaware of one. Unbelievably, he is an attorney and represents himself. Sharing settlement money with an attorney is not profitable for him. His hit list is quite extensive, he sues chiropractors, automotive places, gas stations, beauty salons, donut shops, wrecking yards, restaurants, fast food shops, jewelry stores, a store that sold tutus, and even a soft porn store. However, the list is endless; I only named a few. The only businesses that seem to escape his target are
Fortune 500 companies because they could afford to challenge him in court and he knows he may not get a quick settlement. The moms and pops and medium-sized businesses cannot afford to litigate against him, so they settle. In 2009, Mr. Johnson sued approximately 14 dentists in the Sacramento area. However,
In 2009, Mr. Johnson sued approximately 14 dentists in the Sacramento area.
with more research, I am sure we could find additional dental offices that he has sued within the years. When he drives by, he usually looks to see if your handicap parking lot has a van accessible parking space with proper signage. He checks to see if the van space has an 8’ wide striped aisle on the passenger side. That is easy to spot. Many have only a 5’ wide space, which violates the “van” accessible parking code. This is distinct from a regular handicap space, which only requires a 5’ access aisle. Every business open to the public that provides parking must have at least one van accessible parking space. By the way, he drives a white van, usually has a dog and someone with him. The bottom
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line is — have your facility inspected by an ADA expert. While his lawsuits mostly focus on the parking lot, he will name your business and generally sues for access violations within your dental office. He usually complains that the door does not have an ISA sticker on it (man in the wheelchair symbol), the threshold is too high, the door pressure is over its code limit, the transaction counters are not low enough, there is insufficient space in the waiting area to park his wheelchair and the restrooms are not compliant. You do not need a special dental chair, but you need to meet the code regarding the necessary space next to the chair to enable a wheelchair user to make a side transfer on to it. Sadly, your access deficiencies usually do not violate his civil rights and discriminate against him because I strongly believe he never intended to do business with you. Why? He never returns and how many dental appointments does he need when he already sued one and can return there because it is compliant. Once you make the ADA improvements, he almost never returns. How can he get away with this? Because your facility does not meet the code perfectly and it would be too expensive to challenge him to prove that he never intended to do business with you. He cannot just sue any continued on page 28
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Scott Johnson is a disabled wheelchair user who drives by dental offices to see if the parking lot complies with the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California accessible laws because he has filed well over 100 ADA lawsuits; 80 lawsuits in September 2009, an average of 7.2 ADA suits on the same day. I believe he is a “drive-by” litigant and a vexatious litigant out for money under the guide of the ADA. If the parking lot is not compliant, he is banking that the interior office is non-compliant as well. So he sues dentists for ADA violations claiming he was discriminated against because he could not allegedly park at your facility, like an able-bodied could. He is famous for this, and he sues other types of businesses as well. Just Google his name and a litany of articles will appear.
By Catherine M. Corfee, Esq.
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A Cavity Targeting Dentists for ADA Access Lawsuits
Sacramento District Dental Society