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The Sacramento Bee

July 10, 2009

Facing suit, Sacramento burger joint plans to move

By Bill Lindelof and Bobby Caina Calvan

The Squeeze Inn's Shelly Cox slips past colleague Rollie Rillos as they work the tiny south Sacramento burger joint's counter. The eatery relocated from midtown decades ago.

A lawsuit against the Squeeze Inn, the wildly popular Sacramento burger joint, is the latest filed by a disabled woman who in recent months has sued three other area small businesses for allegedly failing to comply with the federal law requiring access for people with disabilities.

Rather than fight the lawsuit, the restaurant's owner plans to close his tiny Fruitridge Road eatery and reopen elsewhere.

"It's just so frustrating," said Travis Hausauer, owner of the Squeeze Inn, as he flipped burgers for a throng of customers Thursday afternoon, some who waited nearly an hour for one of his famous cheese-slathered creations.

The lawsuit against the Squeeze Inn is the fourth since January that Kimberly Block and her lawyers have filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento under the Americans with Disabilities Act. One of her lawsuits targets another iconic Sacramento eatery, Lil Joe's on Del Paso Boulevard in North Sacramento.

Her lawyer in the Squeeze Inn case, Jason K. Singleton, is one of a group of attorneys in the state who specialize in filing ADA lawsuits. Some federal judges have been critical of the mass ADA filings.

In a 2004 veto message, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called the issue "the next lawsuit abuse problem in California that is likely to drive businesses from the state."

Neither Block nor Singleton, who is based in Eureka, could be reached Thursday to discuss the case.

But Margaret Johnson, the advocacy director for Disability Rights California, said lawsuits are often the only tool available to the disabled community to force reluctant businesses to comply with state and federal access rules.

"Many times, businesses won't make changes – unless there's a lawsuit," Johnson said.

"People with disabilities want the same access rights as people without disabilities," she said.

Johnson noted that the federal law allows exceptions for businesses which can prove financial hardship or can show it would be nearly impossible to comply with access rules.

Hausauer, the Squeeze Inn's owner, said he recently settled another complaint brought by a disabled man, whom he declined to identify. He said he was prohibited from revealing details about the settlement. The Bee could not immediately confirm his story.

Block's lawsuit alleges that parking at the Squeeze Inn is not accessible to disabled people, nor is the main entrance. It also charges that the inside seating area, which has room for 11 bar stools, does not have accessible tables, and the outside seating area is hard to navigate.

On Jan. 29, Block filed a lawsuit against Market Basket Inc., which runs a grocery store on Marysville Boulevard. A settlement was filed July 1, according to court records, which did not include details except to say that both sides were responsible for paying their own legal fees.

Also in January, Block filed a case against the owners of Lil Joe's. In February, she filed a lawsuit against Quick Shop Market.

All are accused of not adequately providing access to disabled customers.

At Lil Joe's, a fixture on Del Paso Boulevard for decades, a sign tells customers that ADA improvements are coming soon.

"It's crazy," said Nadia Halaway, whose family continues to operate the restaurant seven years after the passing of her father, best known in the neighborhood as Lil Joe.

"We're devastated. We haven't even told our mother we're being sued. It would break her heart," Halaway said.

"We're an easy target. It would cost us $15,000 to fix the bathroom. That's quite a lot of money. We're in a recession; business has been way down."

Block reportedly lives just a few streets from the restaurant.

Johnson, the disability rights advocate, said she was unfamiliar with Block, her lawyers or their lawsuits.

While she views such lawsuits as an important way to remedy discrimination, Johnson said she worries about a backlash.

"When these lawsuits are filed, people often see the business as a victim," she said. "Unfortunately, a lawsuit is one of the only tools. It's not as if there's an enforcement agency that goes around checking."

Hausauer doesn't oppose the federal disability law. He considered its passage a watershed moment in protecting the rights of the disabled.

"I think the law is a wonderful thing. There were a lot of things overlooked when it came to people with disability problems," Hausauer said.

But his restaurant, which was relocated from east Sacramento decades ago, would be too expensive to modify, and it would destroy its charms, he said.

"If I could, I would. I'm not against it," he said.

The Squeeze Inn burger joint has long been popular, and its renown grew dramatically when the restaurant was featured in a televised story broadcast on the Food Network. The resulting 40 percent increase in business put more pressure on the limited space and heightened the need for more parking.

The line of prospective customers often snakes out the door of the 450-square-foot orange building with bright red trim, located on Fruitridge just west of Power Inn Road.

Eric McKinley has been coming to the Squeeze Inn for years, he said. He left Thursday with a bag of burgers and fries.

"I think they have to rename this place Squeezed Out," he said.

Hausauer said he will sell the present building and is working with a real estate agent to find a new location.

"Part of the allure of this place is the quaintness of this small building," said Hausauer. "It's a part of history.

"The old buildings were not built for wheelchairs," Hausauer said.

Hausauer said he does not know when the move will happen, and he will remain open in his current location for now.