More on “Vexatious” lawsuits

From the AP wire, on the subject of questionable lawsuits, comes the following:

A man who has filed hundreds of lawsuits accusing businesses of violating the federal Americans With Disabilities Act was running an extortion scam, says a judge who has barred him from bringing any more such actions without court permission.

Jarek Molski is a “vexatious litigant” who has been running a “scheme of systematic extortion,” U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie ruled.

Molski, 34, who has used a wheelchair since being paralyzed in a motorcycle accident a decade ago, has filed 400 suits since 1998. Most have accused restaurants, wineries, bowling alleys, banks and other public facilities of violating his rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In most cases, the judge said in Thursday’s ruling, Molski seeks damages of $4,000 a day until the target of his suit is brought into compliance with the disabilities act, then agrees to a cash settlement.

The judge noted that in three suits last year, the Los Angeles man claimed to have suffered identical injuries at three different restaurants on the same day.

Rafeedie said his ruling “does not limit the right of a legitimately aggrieved disabled individual to seek relief under the ADA; it only prevents abuse of the law by professional plaintiffs, like Molski and their lawyers, whose priority is their own financial gain.”

San Francisco attorney Thomas E. Frankovich, who represented Molski in many of the lawsuits, called the ruling a miscarriage of justice and said he would appeal if he can’t persuade Rafeedie to lift the order.

My best guess is this ruling will not stand up on appeal. Limitations on people’s right to sue create a “prior restraint” and generally viewed in conflict with the First Amendment. Over the years, legislatures have tried again and again to limit lawsuits from prisoners, only to see these restrictions struck down by courts.

For much more information about questionable litigation, check out Overlawyered a blog project by Walter Olson. Mr. Olson is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who has written extensively on the need to reform the civil justice system in the US. On his blog, he tracks lawsuits that demonstrate, in his estimation, the need for reform.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 11th, 2004 at 9:59 am and is filed under Local Items. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.