americans with disabilities act and strip clubs
 

http://aolsvc.digitalcity.com/southf...rticle=1069031

Disabled Patron Sues Strip Clubs Over Lack of Access to Lap Dances
By Jon Burstein

A quadriplegic who says he can't get into a West Palm Beach strip club's lap-dancing room has made a federal case out of it.

Adult-entertainment enthusiast Edward Law filed a lawsuit last month against Wildside Adult Sports Cabaret, alleging a lack of handicap access to the room violates the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The Orlando man should be afforded the same degree of privacy when he gets a lap dance as everyone else, argues his attorney, Anthony Brady Jr. The only access to the lap-dancing room is up a short flight of stairs. The room is ringed with plush chairs where patrons sit while strippers ply their trade.

In addition, the counter around the stage where dancers gyrate for tips is too high, blocking Law's view from his wheelchair and making it difficult for him to place a drink on it, Brady said.

"This is an industry that is high profit and knows about ADA and is ignoring it," Brady said. "I have no sympathy for them violating ADA."

Law is seeking an unspecified amount of money in attorney's fees and is demanding the club come into compliance with ADA standards.

Law brought the lawsuit after visiting the strip club on May 9 and June 14. He also visited another West Palm Beach strip club those two days -- The Landing Strip -- and has also brought a lawsuit against its owners.

Both lawsuits allege the strip clubs have bathrooms that violate ADA standards and lack the required number of parking spaces for the disabled.

Reached at his home, Law refused to comment on either of the lawsuits, saying, "I'm not in position to say anything. I'm not getting involved."

Bret Rudowsky, Wildside's general manager, said that before the lawsuit he never heard any complaints from disabled customers. Brady didn't contact the club with accessibility concerns before bringing the lawsuit.

"I don't understand that if you had a problem why you wouldn't express it to the manager rather than just file a lawsuit," Rudowsky said.

If Law wanted a lap dance, he could get it in several other areas inside the club, Rudowsky said.

Brady contends, though, that getting a lap dance in areas where many of the club's patrons could watch is the equivalent of being forced to go to the bathroom in public.

He said one way to remedy the problem might be to create a partitioned area accessible to the disabled. But he said that if the lap-dancing room was built after 1990 when all new businesses were required to comply with ADA, a ramp should be built.

In addition to the strip clubs, Law has recently filed ADA lawsuits against a few other businesses -- including an Orlando restaurant and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle shop in Daytona Beach, Brady said.

Steve Howells, a director of the nonprofit group Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities, said that in instances where a business is accused of ADA violations, a lawsuit should be one of the last resorts. If a disabled person has problems with a business, they should notify the management and see if accommodations can be made.

"Probably the [strip] club could rearrange things for this guy in advance so he could get the same program [as everyone else]," Howells said.

Brady said Law simply wants the strip clubs to be accessible to all. Even though Law is from Orlando, he regularly visits Palm Beach County where he enjoys the "entertainment scene" a lot more, Brady said.

Rudowsky said that until Law filed his lawsuit, he never heard of a case where someone sued over access to lap dances.

"We're a first-time-for-everything club, so we'd be the one," Rudowsky said.

I love it! :)

:1orglaugh

blah blah blah

as the fake commercial in GTA3 says "nowadays you can sue anyone for just about anything, and probably win.. or at least get a settlement out of it!"

heh

thats how some people are in this society... they are jealous and envious of those who make money... and there for they sue

It's not just that guys. Although, I agree that you should never hop up and sue someone without at least confronting them about the problem. Even if he had talked to them about it, I doubt they would be remodeling anytime soon. Think they're going to change without someone making them?

Hey, cripples need some play too... :winkwink:

lawsuits....the american way

Good point Sly............But you know what? he will win, the laws are on his side.

Either he will win money or the club must do some remodeling....either way.:thumbsup

I like that.
I'm not a pervert, I'm an adult entertainment enthusiast! :thumbsup

I have a feeling he'll be getting plenty of lap dances in the future...

Adult Entertainment Enthusiast... :1orglaugh

Bret Rudowsky, Wildside's general manager, said that before the lawsuit he never heard any complaints from disabled customers. Brady didn't contact the club with accessibility concerns before bringing the lawsuit.



See that goes to show you

He's a money grubber

This may be a little of topic, but somehow it works here.
My girlfriends father (stroke victim and who's also in a wheelchair) came out to visit for a while. So obviously we took him out, dinner every night, shopping almost daily, etc, etc.

Just being in a situation to have to care for a person in a wheelchair for a week, was truly an experience.

Everywhere we went, we fought with the most smalllest things that we all take for granted. I simply couldn't believe how difficult it was to simply get him through a door, or into a store. Let alone trying to sit down at table in a cafe. Every tiny little thing was an issue. Even down to a little crack in ground or a uphill lump in the concrete.

The shit these people have to go through is all fucked up. Hell, trying to find a spot in a handicap space? Forget about it...all the people who are fine and can walk, (visually having no problems) take them up.

What the guy did in the strip club i agree with everyone as being way over excessive. But the reality behind the bullshit is something to think about.

True that brotha. I'll let you in on a secret. I've been in a chair for about 10 years now and parking, although it absolutely sucks, is the LEAST of the accessibility problems. I fucking love living in San Diego, but trying to go anywhere downtown is a complete bitch. Can't get in a good number of stores and restaurants, and the ones you can, are so cramped you can barely maneuver around in.

Hell I've been living here for a year and still haven't been down to Tijuana because all my friends say it will be impossible to get around anywhere because of the fucked up roads and so many stairs.

But this dude did go too far, didn't need to bust out with the law suit. Hell, I get into Deja Vu just fine, so I'm happy for now... :Graucho

they should break his arms for such a stupid lawsuit, since his legs don't work.

That's what a quadriplegic is man... :1orglaugh

ok, if you want to eb technical, so break his jaw so he shuts up.

Now we're talking... eh, I guess not.

o well...at least people that cant walk get those cool things that let them get around

Does this law require us to have Paysites of Quadrapalegic Babes?

Tell him to go to Ybor Secrets in Tampa. Sounds like he is in Orlando. Just a short drive form there. Secrets I know has wheelchair access and the stage counter is nice and low so you can see everything. Full Nudity clubs rock. Tell em Penrod sent ya. You might get a dollar off at the door.

"In addition, the counter around the stage where dancers gyrate for tips is too high, blocking Law's view from his wheelchair and making it difficult for him to place a drink on it, Brady said"

hmmm- why is a quadriplegic concerned about where he needs to place his drink? It just shows that he is a golddigger in my opinion...

i smell bs

how would he "place" a drink somewhere?

Some quadriplegics have more use of their limbs than others. He can probably use his arms just enough to grope the strippers and handle drinks in special cups, but not enough to write legibly or dress himself.

This is quite ridiculous imho. This guys is suing a number of other places besides the strip club for the same thing, it's obvious he's just looking for easy money.

I can sympathize with families who have to care for someone who is handicapped, don't get me wrong. But this is just way out of line, some horny quadriplegic wants to get off, so you better change your facilities to cater for him. Now, correct me if I'm wrong...but I wouldn't think a strip club is a very big hangout for quadriplegics.

But hey, this is America...one thing you'll never hear a lawyer say is: "No, that's a stupid reason to sue".

On the one hand, what does a guy who doesn't feel anything from the neck down (and can't get a hard-on, or feel it if he did) want with a lap dance.

On the other hand, you gotta hand it to him for having balls, even if he can't feel them.

I wonder if he's tried a Nevada brothel yet? I bet they're next on his list.

I have to put in a Handicap accessible restroom in one of my stores in NY.

They aren't kidding, and the law is on their side.

I feel sorry for him. Everybody knows that a great deal of strip club clientele are losers. It must really suck being a loser AND in a wheelchair.

I went to a strip club yesterday to have a steak dinner. I've never been there before and I haven't been to a strip club in years. I give a bitch a dollar and she's all overdoing it with the thankyou's and then giving me a hug. That's pitiful. How the fuck can you get any satisfaction getting a hug from a bitch that you know is only there because you're paying her?

I won't be going back to that strip club anytime soon. I just don't see the allure of strip clubs. The steak was good though.

How funny...I was at a titty bar a while back and the entire wheelchair basketball team was in there having a fucking ball.

"In addition to the strip clubs, Law has recently filed ADA lawsuits against a few other businesses -- including an Orlando restaurant and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle shop in Daytona Beach, Brady said. "
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Helllooooo??? A man in a wheelchair suing a Harley store? WTF?

Money grubbing all the way. No other answer. All the targets have money, I'll bet you NONE of them were even made aware that he had issues prior to his lawsuit being laid on their doorsteps, so to speak.

I end up with a wheelchair at every airport basically since I've hurt my back -- and it is hard to get around some points - though easier than with crutches I'll say --

This guy just takes the cake tho.

Yes KimmyKim, people in wheelchairs can drive motorcycles. They can drive cars. They can ride bikes. Can play basketball. Can jack off. Can fuck their girlfriends in the ass while singing the National anthem. Fuck, they can even get a hard on.

With that said, the guy is still an idiot who needs a reality check. Fucking law suits...

Kind of an oblique reply...on steaks rather than strip clubs.

When/if you come to Portland, go to The Acropolis, a strip club which is apparently owned by a cattle rancher, so you get very cheap steaks. Like half the price or less they'd be in a regular restaurant, plus you have some gal shoving her nookie monster in your face while you're eating. It was several years ago I was last there, but I think I remember getting a tenderloin wrapped in bacon (very delicious) for something like $5.95.

Hyper, your webpage: http://www.phatservers.net/summertime/ is great - try sizing the window bigger than 1024x768, and watch the graphic at the bottom split in two! :)

What if my disability is I can't get an erection during a lap dance...?

Maybe I can sue for that too ;)

Isn't a quadiplegic asking for lap dances like a blind man asking for a light show?

No doubt about that Sly. I know more than one person in a chair and almost every one of them drives a car and says they can have sex. Most of them ended up in the chairs while riding a motorcycle, and have no desire to ever drive one again.

However the point remains that the guy has picked some targets that he knows to make money, and is filing basically frivolous lawsuits in an attempt at financial gain.