Serial ADA Litigator Scott Johnson Sentenced for Tax Evasion
By Catherine Corfee Esq.
4-14-23
Although disabled Scott Johnson, who has filed over 2000+ ADA access lawsuits pled guilty to tax evasion, he was sentenced ever so slightly last week. The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) provides a disabled Plaintiff with injunctive relief to ensure that a business complies with the ADA if the plaintiff was denied the full and equal enjoyment of the goods and services, and intends to return.
Scott Johnson makes his money off suing small businesses, especially minority owned businesses, to pay for his alleged damages for purportedly being denied access to wanting to enjoy the good services. Whether or not he truly wants to enjoy the goods and services is up to debate.
Catherine Corfee, Esq. represented Mr. Johnson’s four former legal assistants who sued Scott Johnson for sexual-harassment. He taught them how to drive around and look for ADA violations in parking lots. He paid them bonuses to prepare a certain number of complaints. Mr. Johnson created a “cheat sheet” for them to drive around to look for exterior ADA non-conformance.
Just because a business does not perfectly comply with the ADA, does not mean the disabled person is denied or barred from accessing the facility. Too many courts and bleeding hearts make that assumption.
Notorious Scott Johnson has sued thousands of business owners in Northern California from Sacramento to the Bay Area alleging ADA violations at restaurants, hotels, auto repair shops, up to and including a psychic.
Mr. Johnson demands a minimum of $4000 per visit plus attorneys’ fees and costs per the California Unruh Act. Since he is an attorney himself, he knows that it would generally cost a business more money to fight him than settle. Therefore, most of his cases settle. Mr. Johnson was accused of not claiming his settlement monies as taxable income for certain years.
Mr. Johnson’s sentencing was really just a slap on the hand. Apparently he may have some home arrest but he can continue to sue. While other celebrities and non-celebrities have been sentenced to prison time, Scott Johnson has not. It is unclear why he was not sentenced to prison time. One has to wonder if he was given favorable treatment, because he is disabled.
In his ADA lawsuits, Mr. Johnson generally seeks injunctive relief, which is a court ordering the business to comply, but only if he intends to return to enjoy the goods and services. He must allege that he will return, or he is not entitled to that remedy. Few, if any, clients of Corfee Stone Law Corp. have yet to see him return.
There are some legal defenses and preventative strategies to potentially prevent such a lawsuit. Contact Catherine Corfee, Esq. For a consultation. 916-487-5441.
The information in this article is not intended to expressly or Impliedly provide legal advice and may not be relied on for such.