The State Bar of Arizona announced on May 16, 2019 that Peter Strojnik was disbarred from the practice of law in that state. https://www.azbar.org/newsevents/newsreleases/2019/05/disbarment-peterstrojnik/ The State Bar alleged that many of the ADA lawsuits he filed had no basis in law and fact, were non-meritorious, and contained requests for attorneys’ fees in excess of those which had been incurred. In 2018 the Bar suspended him for “milking ADA violations.” By then he had filed more than 1,700 complaints in state court and another 160 in federal court. In most cases he sought $5,000 in attorneys’ fees collecting approximately $1.2 million in settlements. https://www.azbar.org/newsevents/newsreleases/2018/07/interimsuspension-peterstrojnik/
But not willing to walk off into the sunset like a cowboy in a good Western film, Peter Strojnik, Sr. started filing lawsuits on his own behalf. In August 2019 Mr. Strojnik filed lawsuits filed against hotels in Bakersfield. He claims that hotels violated the ADA and the California Unruh Act due to various barriers to accessibility. Perhaps to avoid the problems he faced with the Arizona State Bar, Mr. Strojnik attached photographs to his complaint showing the alleged violations such as signage violations, heavy doors, exposed plumbing, improper hardware or handles, pool lift violations, high counters, inaccessible bar, etc.
The nut doesn’t fall far from the tree. In 2016 P. Kristofer Strojnik was suspended by the Arizona State Bar. In that case, he told the opposing party he would publicly shame the defendants he accused of sexual harassment, including threatening protestors to demonstrate in front of the defendants’ businesses. He also claimed to have scheduled meetings with law enforcement about the defendants alleged harboring of undocumented workers. https://www.azbar.org/newsevents/newsreleases/2016/11/suspensions-peterkstrojnik/
You can’t make this stuff up! History is better than fiction. The California State Bar has more on this at its website: http://members.calbar.ca.gov/courtDocs/17-J-00133.pdf
Apparently, Mr. Strojnik Jr. is back to practicing law because in July 2019 he filed two lawsuits in the Eastern District of California alleging ADA violations on behalf of one of our favorite serial plaintiffs, Theresa Brooke. Unlike the Bakersfield cases, Ms. Brooke does not allege she visited the Modesto hotels (although she intends to travel there for various reasons, including court hearings).
Rather, she noticed on the hotel websites that the more deluxe and luxurious hotel rooms were not available for disabled persons. Per section 224.5 of the Standards of Accessible Design, hotels must provide persons with a disability “choices of guest rooms, number of beds, and other amenities comparable to the choices provided to other guests.”