The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and the Minnesota State Council on Disability have partnered together to propose legislation that will address the significant number of lawsuits that have been filed against Minnesota businesses for alleged violations of the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA). Since its inception in July, 2014, a Minnesota nonprofit corporation, Disability Support Alliance, together with its members, has filed numerous lawsuits against Minnesota businesses alleging lack of access for individuals with disabilities, in violation of the MHRA and ADA. The proposed legislation would allow business owners to make proper repairs and accommodate individuals with disabilities without litigation.
The proposed legislation would require individuals to provide notice and an opportunity for the business owner to remove the architectural barrier, comply with a construction-related accessibility standard, or make a reasonable accommodation before a lawsuit could be commenced. Under the proposed legislation, the pre-litigation notice would need to be specific enough for the business owner to identify the basis of any alleged violation, include an explanation of the violation and the location of any architectural barrier, and include a reference to any state or federal standard or guideline forming the basis for the alleged violation. If the business owner fails to provide a written description of improvements or alterations that will be made to remedy the alleged violation within sixty days of the receipt of the pre-litigation notice, or if the business owner provides a written description of the proposed improvements or alternations, but fails to make substantial progress to remedy the alleged violation within 120 after the description is provided, a lawsuit could be filed. While the lawsuits filed by Disability Support Alliance generally involve violations of both the MHRA and ADA, this proposed legislation addresses pre-litigation notice at the state level only for MHRA claims. A similar proposed federal bill addressing ADA claims was assigned to a congressional committee in October, 2015.
As the Minnesota Legislature is not presently in session, this proposed legislation has not yet been introduced. However, we anticipate that this proposed bill will be introduced and debated during the upcoming session. If you have any questions regarding the proposed legislation or any other MHRA or ADA compliance related issues, please contact David Wilk, Angela Beranek Brandt, or Stephanie Chandler at (651) 312-6500.