Bob Bragalone and Margaret Mead recently resolved an ADA claim for no payment by the insured. Bob and Margaret negotiated with the Department of Justice ("DOJ") over a period of more than two years, mediating in Fall 2009, and subsequently rejected two proposed resolution offers that required that a payment be made to Stough. In December 2011, the matter was finally resolved by an official Resolution that required no payment at all to claimant Stough.
Stough claimed that Northpark Centre (an upscale shopping center), prevented him from using the disabled parking spaces at Northpark by barricading them in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He filed a complaint with the DOJ alleging violation of the ADA and claiming $500,000 in damages. The DOJ initially contended that it found violations of regulations with respect to blocked parking spaces and deviations from regulations governing the physical aspects of accessible parking spaces and proposed that Northpark pay Stough a monetary settlement in the form of a fine. To the credit of the client, Northpark refused to compromise and kept fighting, which led to the dismissal of the complaint with no payment to Stough.