ATLANTA — Last week, Channel 2 Action News reported on thousands of lawsuits claiming that business owners don’t have handicap-accessible websites.
Now, Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray is looking into where the money from those lawsuits ends up.
Gray says that when he looked at the lawsuits, he noticed the same plaintiffs over and over in hundreds of cases.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Business owners say they believe attorneys are taking advantage of the Americans with Disabilities Act to make money.
“As a small business, it’s just a wipeout machine,” said store owner Sara Campbell.
She said that even after consulting with a school for the blind and hiring special ADA coders, she still got sued again for her website.
Of the nearly 4,000 cases filed in 2025, Gray found that 90% of them were filed by just 16 law firms. Each of those lawsuits does have a real, visually impaired person named as the plaintiff.
Channel 2 Action News’ sister station in Florida spoke with attorney Victor Ariza in Miami.
Ariza’s name was on 383 lawsuits between 2022 and 2025.
Answering in Spanish, Ariza said he does this for people with disabilities like him. More than anything, he says, he does it to help.
“No one has an intention of making their business inaccessible,” small business owner Nayan Padrai said.
MORE FROM 2 INVESTIGATES:
- Some investment brokers are hiding client complaints, six-figure settlements
- International crypto Ponzi scheme operated out of metro Atlanta; suspect on the run
- South Fulton homeowners frustrated over months-long water leaks, damaged sidewalks
Padrai was sued in California and is now producing a documentary on the lawsuits.
“So the plaintiffs in New York that we spoke to were paid $500 for every settlement that had their name on them,” Padrai said.
However, the settlements run into the tens of thousands of dollars per business, meaning the vast majority of the money ends up going to the attorneys.
“They’re being kinda told that they’re doing good work by helping businesses become accessible. What they’re actually doing is getting the plaintiff’s bar very rich,” Padrai said.
Unlike physical things like wheelchair-accessible ramps, there are no clear federal standards for what constitutes an accessible website.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2026 Cox Media Group
