Public accommodations: construction-related accessibility claims.

Existing law allows a plaintiff to collect statutory damages in a construction-related accessibility claim against a place of public accommodation only if the plaintiff was denied full and equal access to the place of public accommodation on a particular occasion, as specified. Existing law imposes a minimum liability of $1,000 on these statutory damages for each offense when a defendant demonstrates that the defendant has corrected the construction-related accessibility violation within 60 days of being served with a complaint and the defendant demonstrates that the structure or area of the alleged violation was determined to meet standards or was subjected to an inspection, as specified. Existing law also imposes a minimum liability of $2,000 for each offense if the defendant has corrected all construction-related violations that are the basis of the claim within 30 days of being served with the complaint and the defendant is a small business, as specified. This bill would instead provide that a defendant's maximum liability for statutory damages in a construction-related accessibility claim against a place of public accommodation is $1,000 for each offense if the defendant has corrected all construction-related violations that are the basis of the claim within 180 days of being served with the complaint and the defendant demonstrates that the structure or area of the alleged violation was determined to meet standards or was subjected to an inspection, as specified. The bill would reduce that maximum liability to $1,000 for each offense if the defendant has corrected all construction-related violations that are the basis of the claim within 180 days of being served with the complaint and the defendant is a small business, as revised. The bill would also provide that specified statutory damages in a construction-related accessibility claim against a place of public accommodation that is a small business, as defined, may only be recovered if the place of public accommodation is granted a 180-day stay of court proceedings to meet specified requirements.