You can park right here.
Reserved for handicap.
Gary Dacosta is adamant.
Basically, bring him fit back h,
as you can see running your
room for a wheelchair.
Anyone with a physical disabili,
once you get in bathroom
and way wide enough
can access his business. I havet
had anybody with a wheelchair ty
to come in that couldn't get it.
That's why this lawsuit has him dumbfounded.
Everything they said was just nt
true. A man named Marcus
Ingram filed the suit.
In it, he says he is a frequent patron
at Debaum Restaurant in Lithonid
alleges the business is violatig
the Americans with Disabilities,
listing infractions like inaccessible
bathrooms, tables and routes toe
property for someone in a wheelchair.
You said I didn't have all
this in black and white,
and we have all this we found.
Marcus Ingram reported similar issues
with lots of Georgia businesses.
He sued Buttermilk Kitchen in 2,
Fellini's Pizza Inc in 2016.
Big catch in Buckhead,
Delray Taco in Doraville,
Waffle House, Subway,
Arby's and the list goes on.
Court records show Ingram's fild
more than 100 lawsuits alleginga
DA violations not just in Georg,
but Florida, Ohio, South Caroli,
most with the same attorney,
Peter Monusmith.
So we gave him a call.
Pete, Mona Smith. Hi, Peter.
My name is Kristen Crowley. Mona
Smith is based out of Pennsylva.
And he knew exactly why we were calling.
It's called the Bomb restaurant.
And they're saying that this
lawsuit that has just come downt
you're representing with severa.
Yes, Yes, right, exactly.
They're calling it that.
Why do you think they're calling it that?
But I think them saying that
it's just a frivolous lawsuit
is just their way to say that.
They want it dismissed and they want to
have it go away and not fix anything,
he contends. Every business
he sues is breaking the law.
Court records show he's filed
more than 600AD a related
suits for roughly 25 clients.
We took the issue to an ADA exp.
If you go to a place and you
find they're not compliant
with a DA, what's the first step you take?
I talked to the manager or the
business owner. The first step
usually isn't a lawsuit, right?
Kim Gibson is executive directof
Disability Link, a nonprofit tht
advocates for people with disabilities.
She says the ADA is crucial in bringing
equity to the disability commun.
Out of 10 organizations that we've done,
nine of them are out of complia.
Having those lawsuits that
aren't aren't justifiable,
that people are in compliance.
That's hurtful to the cause.
As far as trying to have the ref
the people or businesses and compliance,
that's hurtful. You've got
the same clients over and over
again filing these lawsuits.
I don't think it's excessive.
They go to a property they
can't gain access to.
It's a legitimate case.
But if you actually look at our
complaint and our expert report.
There's absolutely no access toe
property whatsoever because there's steps
there and there's no way to get into it.
Were you aware there was a ramp
to the restaurant in the back?
If there is a ramp,
that is unbeknownst to me,
they're not doing
this for compliance, for for ac.
They have access already.
They're doing this. It's a money grab.
And that's why attorneys generad
states like Florida and Arizonae
cracked down on frivolous ADA lawsuits.
We reached out to Georgia's attorney general.
His office said it would not get involved.
This when he got mad and walked.
The Costa maintains he is complt
and is fighting the lawsuit.
Could something like this put
you and others out of business?
He just hopes the cost isn't too great.