The federal side: Title II and Title III
Title II of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12131 et seq., covers state and local government programs and services. Title III, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq., covers public accommodations: stores, restaurants, hotels, medical offices, theaters, and most places the public walks into. A private plaintiff can sue for injunctive relief and, under 42 U.S.C. § 12205, attorney's fees. What a Title III plaintiff cannot recover is compensatory damages.
That single limitation is why so many California access cases are pled under state law. Where the barrier is a physical one, the plaintiff generally must identify it with enough specificity to let the defendant fix it, and the federal claim becomes moot once the barrier is removed.
The state side: Unruh and the access statutes
- Civil Code § 51 (Unruh Civil Rights Act) prohibits disability discrimination by businesses, and § 52 supplies the remedy: actual damages plus statutory damages, with a floor of $4,000 per violation and up to three times actual damages
- Civil Code § 54 and § 54.1 guarantee full and equal access to public places and accommodations, including the right to be accompanied by a service animal
- Government Code § 11135 applies to programs and activities that receive state funding
- Attorney's fees are recoverable, which is what makes representation feasible in cases where the individual damages are modest
Construction-related claims have their own rules
California regulates how construction-related accessibility claims are filed. Civil Code § 425.50 requires specific allegations, including details about the barrier and, where applicable, facts about repeat filings. § 55.53 requires a written notice with prescribed content before a construction-related claim proceeds. A business can obtain a stay to correct violations (§ 55.54), and § 55.56 reduces statutory damages where a qualified defendant corrects the barrier within the statutory window, with the reduction tied to the size of the business. In practical terms: a barrier that is fixed quickly is worth less than one that was ignored for years.
What to document
- Photographs of the barrier with something for scale, and the date and time of the visit
- The exact address and the part of the facility affected
- Any request for accommodation you made and the response you received
- The practical consequence: what you could not do, what you had to pay for instead, the injury if there was one
- Whether the business is a small business, which affects available damages and the correction period
Common questions
Can I get damages under the ADA?
Not under Title III. Injunctive relief and attorney's fees are available. Damages come from California law, principally the Unruh Act and the access statutes.
How much is a California access claim worth?
Statutory damages start at $4,000 per violation under Civil Code § 52, with reductions available for small businesses that correct promptly under § 55.56. Actual damages and injury add to that.
The business fixed it after I complained. Is my claim gone?
The injunctive part may be moot, but the damages claim under state law generally survives, and attorney's fees can still be recovered in the right case. Jankey v. Lee (2012) 55 Cal.4th 1038 addresses fees where litigation produces access.
Does this apply to a government office?
Yes, under Title II and Government Code § 11135, with different remedies and, for state law claims, the six-month government claim requirement in Government Code § 911.2.