both the unruhe civil rights act and the ada provide that you recover civil or federal damages. if you can establish or damages that are more than $1,000 or more than $4,000 each time, you can choose the higher of the amount. in some egregious cases, if you can show intent not to comply, you can seek a multiplier as a penalty, three times the amount of the damages. it is not three times the amount of minimum damages, it is three times the amount of the actual damages. if your actual damages were more than 4000, 5000, i could come after you and seek $15,000 per occasion. occasion means per instance i come to visit an accommodation and encounter a barrier, i am discriminated against because i do not have full and equal access. that is it in a nutshell. also there is a clause as well. the connection between federal and state law, the way it plays on access and -- litigation is the attorney can seek relief under all acts, they can put them up there and pick and choose. it can stay all your claims and choose which ones you want. one important thing and want to mention under state law

what we need are modifications to the federal, state, and local laws as well as the unruh act. so the target is removed from our backs. please stop this runaway train. i have a handout that has my basic suggestions from my presentation. thank you. supervisor mar: thank you. the next speaker. >> i am the attorney. i represent a lot of small businesses and consol -- supervisor mar: you are with the committee. >> thank you for the new legistla -- legislation that david chiu is introducing carry two years ago this was not on my radar. some of the businesses came to me with these letters that have been getting and there were saying, what is this? i did not know what this was and i am called by newspapers and i go to committee meetings and this thing has grown. i appreciate anything the city can do to help these small businesses. i mean micro-businesses. one owner or to owners. they're not heavily funded. that is why this is an issue. most of the issues were addressed so i will not go over them and make little statements based on what was said. most of the issues are the damages port

. >> can i comment that the california unruh civil rights act seems incredibly broad? that is a basic problem when you have proactive intent to discriminate based on race, gender, national origin, or other factors. i could see why three times actual damage, we're talking about small mom-and-pop businesses that are struggling to survive and to place that seemed a burden on them just sounds -- that is not the intent of the civil rights act. that is a key problem here, it seems. i do want to ask about the timing of the process. when you have a casp specialist, if the lawsuit has begun, can you still get the casp specialists under state law to give you that extra 90 days? >> is too late at that point under state law. it should not dissuade a business owner from getting a certified instructor to look at your place anyway. i also -- often council place -- counsel clients. hwo do -- how do i resolve this case, what do i need to do to resolve this case? i counsel them, look beyond this case, did not address the barriers but they barriers as you can. you did not want to have a

along with mark suppelsa and julie unruh, we will have live reports from tampa throughout the week... on the wgn morning news, midday news, and the news at five and nine. president obama is campaigning during the gop convention ... but tropical storm isaac may complicate matters for him. the president travels to the battleground states of iowa, colorado and virginia for rallies in the next two days. but like the republicans ... president obama has to figure out how to be agressive while isaac threatens the gulf coast. also ... a super-pac supporting the president is launching ads this week ... attacking mitt romney's job as massachusetts governor and how his policies could hurt the middle class. the plan to bring more casinos to illinios- has been rejected by governor quinn. wgn's nancy loo has details. >>word of the governor's veto was circulating long before he got there this morning and there's clearly a disappointment that he has taken the gambling expansion bill off the table. >>sometimes it may take longer to do it right the first time ... >>those were telling words from the gov

mark suppelsa, frank holland and julie unruh will have reports throughout the week..ing news.. wgn midday news.. and wgn news at five and nine. muslims in dupage county met in lombard tonight with republican congressman joe walsh. walsh has been outspoken about his perceived dangers of radical islam to americans. he recently linked the council of american-islamic relations to the palestinian group hamas. after a lengthy statement of grievances -- walsh rose to speak -- saying the meeting was his idea -- and that he was there to listen. muslims rose to speak and ask questions. it was an animated get-together -- with both sides presumably leaving somewhat the wiser for it. controversial missouri senate candidate todd akin says he's staying in the race, despite pressure from fellow republicans to drop out. akin ignited a political firestorm last sunday when he used the expression legitimate rape to expound on a theory that rape rarely results in pregnancy. speaking in st. louis today akin made his intentions clear. akin is running to unseat democratic senator claire mcca