NorthPark Mall Reaches Agreement In ADA Complaint - Then offers $1,000 to original complainant to release them from further court action for recovery of damages.

This document can be seen on a separate page on this blog.  The reason I reproduce it here is that I have further comments on the behavior of the Department of Justice actions taken against NorthPark Management and how both parties treated me.

The DOJ staff leaned on me, and I mean leaned on me heavily, in order to convince me to participate in their mediation process, before asking for a complete investigation.  They suggested that my complaint would be looked upon less favorably by the DOJ staff if I did not try to resolve the complaint prior to asking the DOJ to investigate.  I foolishly agreed to do so and it was in preparation for this mediation that most of the nearly $9,000 I am currently out of pocket was incurred as my attorneys turned out enormous amounts of documents and communications leading up to the mediation.  Turns out the whole mediation process is a sham.  The only party to possibly benefit from it was the folks at NorthPark Management, because they could say they acted in good faith by going to mediation, despite their conduct therein.  All the while the could still collect a good deal of revenue by leaving their valet and parking arrangements in violation of the ADA.

Both Carmen Romero and her supervisor, Jana Erickson at the DOJ have known all along that I had spent out of pocket these expenses and yet they negotiated the agreement with NorthPark which will require them to bring their facilities into compliance with the ADA and it was Ms. Romero and Ms. Erickson who presented to me the waiver of my rights to make any further attempt to collect my out of pocket expenses.  That's right folks, the Department of Justice expected me to just swallow the loss of nearly $8,000 in addition to the indignities and abuse NorthPark's security and contractors heaped on me when I tried to get access to a disabled parking space the day described in my original complaint filed with the DOJ and which you can read on a separate page of this blog.

In my opinion, any reasonable person might expect that they, Ms. Romero and Ms. Erickson would at least have tried to get me reimbursement for my expenses before suggesting I give up all other legal remedies for collecting them on my own.  I think that speaks volumes about the character of both these ladies.  I refused to sign the Waiver and Release in exchange for $1,000 because I damn well expect to get the rest of the money back one way or another.

Here folks, is the waiver that NorthPark Management asked me to sign giving away all rights to collect anything from them that would even approach the amount that it took me to drag them into compliance by complaining to the U.S. Department of Justice - am amount of about $9,000.  By the way folks, the people at the DOJ knew how much I had already expended and this $1,000 is what they suggested I sign.  It took them nearly three years going back and forth with NorthPark's attorneys to get NorthPark to comply with the ADA, during which NorthPark continued to discriminate against the disabled, to their profit.  Then when they finally do comply they and the DOJ say "thank you very much for bringing this to our attention" but we are not interested in what you had to spend to get us to this point.  As if every tax-payer should be willing to subsidize the DOJ with their own money in order to get them to do their jobs.

Here's the waiver, which I refused to sign.