California had the grim honor of being named the number one
judicial hellhole in the country by the American Tort Reform Foundation, which
has been releasing the ranking since 2002. California had taken the number one
ranking three out of the last four years.
Among other reasons, the Golden State earned the top spot
because it is considered the ‘epicenter’ of ADA access lawsuits and class
action lawsuits against food makers. The report points out the frivolous claims
that attorneys across the state use to sue vulnerable businesses in targeted industries.
NFIB/CA Executive Director Tom Scott is quoted in the report
responding to Governor Brown’s veto of Senate Bill 251, which contained several
common sense ADA reforms, including tax credits to incentivize businesses to
become more accessible. Scott said, “If the Governor had a problem with the tax
credit, I wish someone would have just said something months ago when lawmakers
could have ‘just taken it out’.”
“With California already hosting one of the worst tax and
regulatory environments in the nation, it should not be a huge surprise that we
are also the number one judicial hellhole in the United States,” said Scott.
“Those in the Legislature need to work harder to ensure
legislation that fixes the legal climate in our state is both passed and signed
into law so that those in the small business community can get relief while
also increasing accessibility for all.”
