A Florida lawyer charged with filing more than 300 fraudulent Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuits on behalf of two plaintiffs who didn’t know he was filing claims in their names was sentenced to prison.
Charging documents show that in 2019, Stuart Finkelstein was charged with stealing the identities of two individuals to file hundreds of unauthorized ADA lawsuits.
Finkelstein, 68, was ordered to pay a $200,000 fine, forfeit more than $640,000 and sentenced to four years in federal prison for mail fraud by U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe.
“It's a sad day for attorneys,” said Elizabeth Milito, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business’s Small Business Legal Center in Washington, D.C. “It mars the profession. He had been disbarred previously in New York and then readmitted. So, it's unfortunate for the profession because attorneys like this are not representative of the vast majority.”
Finkelstein yielded some $600,000 while causing upwards of $1.5 million in business losses, according to media reports.
Originally, Finkelstein pleaded not guilty but subsequently plead guilty last year to mail fraud.
"Finkelstein has now been held accountable and is facing prison time for his brazen scheme," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a statement.
As previously reported in the Epoch Times, thousands of small business owners have been targeted for shake down lawsuits using serial ADA filings.
“NFIB has been sounding the alarm about drive by ADA lawsuits for decades,” Milito told the Florida Record. “Small business owners have been subject to these kinds of extortionist claims and it doesn't do anything to improve access for the disabled persons at all.”
In response to the widening cottage industry, Congressman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) is trying to change the federal law with H.R. 3493, also known as the ADA Improvement Act.
The proposed legislation is pending in the House Committee on the Judiciary and advocates for giving businesses a chance to fix identified accessibility problems.
Under H.R., 3493, business owners would have 120 days to address a complaint’s allegations.
“The regulations, in particular, for Title III public access under the ADA are not straightforward,” Milito added. “They're very confusing. Architects even get it wrong and if you're in an older building, too, you may may or may not be grandfathered in. So, a business owner may have a valid defense, but when faced with a threatening demand letter, it's scary.”