A new clip from Atlanta News First shows how small business owners are speaking out against the increase of what they call frivolous lawsuits being launched against them, hurting their businesses financially and the owners’ well being. Some argue it’s too easy to sue small business owners, and as a result, many businesses are leaving Georgia.

Eric Gray, who manages a local hotel in Cobb County, spoke about how he received a letter from an attorney, suing him for $2,000 for not having an ADA lift in his hotel pool. Even though his pool did have the proper lift, he still settled due to it being cheaper than taking it to court. Gray later found out the lawyer had never even been to his hotel, and the same letter had been sent to multiple small businesses across the state. 

“If you get hit with one of those every week, that’s going to add up,” he said. “We’re a stand-alone hotel, so if we get hit with a very frivolous lawsuit that could cost a lot of money then really you have to question like, can I afford to stay in business?”

Alexis Kinsey, a business owner in Georgia who owns multiple restaurants, tells a story about how a customer claimed to have chipped a tooth in her restaurant and had their lawyer demand four new car tires as part of the settlement. She said in an interview:

“The risk is not what you can control. The risk for me mentally is what you can’t control,” she said. “If something happened at your house, in your yard that you had nothing to do with, do you think you should be brought into a lawsuit because of that?”

These stories further underscore the need for lawsuit abuse reform in Georgia, and SB Bills 68 and 69 will help protect businesses and consumers.