California is the largest single source of lawsuits filed under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the section that applies to businesses open to the public. In 2024, plaintiffs filed 3,252 Title III cases in California out of 8,800 nationally, roughly 37 percent of every such case in the country. National filings eased slightly to 8,667 in 2025, with California, Florida, and New York again the top three.
The lead has moved around. New York overtook California in 2022 and held the top spot through 2023 before California reclaimed it. What has not changed is that a handful of states account for most of the national total, and California is reliably among them.
The reason is not that California businesses are less accessible than businesses elsewhere. It is a matter of how two laws interact.
The federal layer: the ADA
The ADA is a federal law, in force since 1990. Title III requires "places of public accommodation," which includes most retail stores, restaurants, offices, and service businesses, to be accessible to people with disabilities. That covers physical features like parking, entrances, restrooms, and counter heights.
Under federal law alone, a private plaintiff who wins an ADA case can get an injunction, meaning a court order to fix the barrier, plus attorney's fees. Federal law does not award money damages to the plaintiff.
The state layer: the Unruh Act
California's Unruh Civil Rights Act changes that math. Under state law, any violation of the ADA is automatically also a violation of the Unruh Act, and the Unruh Act provides statutory damages of at least $4,000 per occurrence, plus attorney's fees.
That combination, a federal standard plus automatic state damages, is what draws high-volume filers. A small number of plaintiffs and law firms file hundreds of suits per year, often over parking lot striping, signage, ramps, and website accessibility.
Websites are part of this
Courts have divided on exactly when a website counts as a place of public accommodation, but businesses with both a website and a physical location in California are regularly sued over sites that do not work with screen readers or keyboard navigation. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA are the benchmark most settlements and court orders reference, even though no statute formally adopts them for private businesses.
What defenses exist
California has created some protections, mainly for physical-access claims. A business that has had its property inspected by a Certified Access Specialist (CASp) before a claim is filed may qualify for reduced statutory damages and a window to fix violations. Small businesses can qualify for further reductions in specific circumstances. These protections apply to construction-related claims, not website claims.
The practical takeaway
The businesses that end up in these lawsuits are rarely surprised by the law itself. They are surprised that anyone was checking. The rules have been in force for decades, the plaintiffs are systematic, and the cost of a proactive CASp inspection or a website accessibility audit is a fraction of the cost of a single settlement.