There's blood on the water. But whose?

2 comments

July 21, 11:31 PM

by Tony Long, North Beach Examiner

 

 

A: Professional courtesy.

An old joke, sure, but they become old jokes by having a ring of truth to them. If what they're saying about Tom Frankovich is true, the bells are deafening. Frankovich, a San Francisco attorney, is accused of exploiting inconsistencies in the Americans With Disabilities Act to file lawsuits for noncompliance against small-business owners all over the state.

Frankovich has reportedly filed about 1,500 of these lawsuits, which center around the issue of access. His M.O., according to a source close to the story, is to identify businesses whose owners would have extreme difficulty complying with the ADA access provisions because of structural restrictions, or because the building housing the business is designated historic and therefore cannot be altered.

A city like San Francisco, with plenty of buildings both old and historically valuable, is fertile ground.

Like an ambulance chaser, Frankovich encourages handicapped customers to attempt to enter the store. When they can't, Frankovich files suit on their behalf, taking a healthy cut of the award or negotiated settlement for himself. A few local businesses, like the boutique Cose Bella on Columbus and Thai restaurant King Cha Cha at Grant and Vallejo, have agreed to payouts to avoid being dragged into court.

But when Frankovich filed suit against virtually every business on the one-block stretch of Columbus Avenue between Filbert and Greenwich, he made a serious miscalculation, incurring the wrath of the North Beach Merchants' Association and its president, Kathy Dooley. If some of the business owners and landlords in North Beach were intimidated by Frankovich, Dooley was not. She was infuriated by what she regards as a serious breach of ethics.

"If (small business owners) net $40,000 or $50,000 a year, we're looking good," said Dooley, herself a small businesswoman. "If (Frankovich) gets that much for each lawsuit, he's taking away this living. He depends on it." Dooley said Frankovich employs divide-and-conquer tactics: "He cuts the weak from the herd. That's his style."

Among the businesses sued in that one block of Columbus were Da Flora, Sushi on North Beach and XOX, the popular truffle shop.

Dooley and the merchants' group say that the lawsuits are frivolous and violate the spirit, if not the letter, of a well-intended but poorly drafted law. Attorney David Chiu, a candidate for District 3 supervisor who also sits on the city's Small Business Committee, drafted a seven-point resolution that will be presented to his fellow commissioners on Thursday. Among other things, the resolution asks the commission to condemn Frankovich's actions and urges the State Bar to disbar him. It also seeks to write protections into the ADA for small businesses unable to comply with regulations because of where they're located.

Chiu's resolution would also require the mayor's office to hire more building inspectors and to make sure that the relevant city agencies keep small business owners apprised of their obligations under ADA. There are also provisions for securing loans for small business owners who have trouble with legal fees associated with Frankovich's suits.

The resolution will be considered at Thursday's Small Business Committee hearing, which is open to the public. It will be held in Room 416 at City Hall, beginning at 2 p.m.

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