Theresa Brooke Targets Days Inn, Best Western and Travelodge for ADA Violations
By Catherine M. Corfee Esq.
Corfee Stone Law Corp.
Serving All in California
In Southern California, let this be a warning that disabled Theresa Brooke has targeted several hotels for alleged ADA violations, specifically the following hotels: Days Inn, Best Western, Travelodge, Quality Inn, and Red Lion. On May 7, 2023, she filed seven (7) ADA complaints in the Central District of California, Federal Court claiming she was barred from full and equal access. She typically alleges that hotels do not have a compliant access aisle at the passenger loading zone adjacent to the hotel lobby. This assumes that the hotel even offers a passenger loading zone. She uses the same attorney, Peter Strojnik. Theresa Brooke alleges that she ambulates with the aid of a wheelchair due to the loss of a leg.
In the 2000s, Ms. Theresa Brooke primarily sued hotels for non-compliant pool-lifts. Brooke and her attorney went on a shopping spree filing several ADA lawsuits. The problem is that Ms. Brooke is not a California resident, though she claims she takes vacations in California and has medical appointments. She alleges that she intends to use the hotel and will return, otherwise she would not be entitled to injunctive relief. Injunctive relief is a court order requiring ADA compliance. That is the only remedy of the ADA. Brooke also seeks damages under the California Unruh Act and Disabled Person’s Act. In one of our cases at Corfee Stone Law Corp., she literally booked a non-ADA room at our hotel-client’s facility when an ADA room was available.
Ms. Theresa Brooke originally filed many ADA lawsuits in Arizona, where she resides. One news article reports that Brooke filed seventy over a six-week period. So many clients ask why the courts allow this abuse? The answer is a mystery. There have been attempts to file motions to declare these types of serial litigators “vexatious,” however the courts will rarely grant them. One brave Judge declared a disabled plaintiff vexatious, i.e., Jared Molski, however, he is no longer alive. In California, the federal courts have been interpreting the ADA very broadly, and there are few if any defenses to avoid trial.
Our law firm has handled many cases against Ms.Brooke and her counsel For legal representation and/or potential preventative ADA advice, contact Ms. Catherine M. Corfee, Esq. 916-487-5441.
This article/blog is not intended to be relied on as legal advice or be expressly or impliedly interpreted as such.