Janice Ward anxiously awaits her day in court with disabled-access advocate and litigious attorney Scott Johnson.

On that day in February 2016, the longtime Manteca hair stylist won’t make many – if any – appointments. 

Imagine that. 

Nearly two years after Ward was served papers at her home, Johnson, a Carmichael-based attorney and quadriplegic, has continued to haunt her pocketbook. 

Ward will appear in a Sacramento federal courtroom, where she is being sued by Johnson because her salon, The Hair Company, failed to comply with several access standards set forth by the American with Disabilities Act.

All told, Johnson is seeking more than $100,000 in damages, according to her daughter Kim Ward. 

“My mom was in severe panic. This has been her livelihood. She was a single parent for me and my brother. This is the only retirement she has. This is her only form of income,” Kim said. “In her mind, she was facing possibly having to close the business and lose her livelihood over this lawsuit.

“My advice to her was, ‘If you’re going lose the business and you’re going down, we’re going to go down fighting.’ We’re not just going to hand this guy the business.”

Ward has owned The Hair Company on West Yosemite Avenue for 30 years. In that time, she has made dramatic changes to the inside of the near-70-year-old facility, bringing it into the 21st century.

It never dawned on her that the parking lot and exterior of the building was in violation of a civil rights law. Access, she said, had never been an issue for her staff or clients, many of whom are handicapped.

Still, Johnson, who the Wards says visited The Hair Company once after he filed the lawsuit but didn’t get out of his van, found enough fault to justify a lawsuit against The Hair Company and at least 36 other Manteca businesses.

The Manteca Bulletin obtained court documents for The Hair Company, Isadore’s, Century Furniture, Manteca Ford and Anderson’s Mower & Bike.

In each case, Johnson said he frequents the Manteca area and has attempted to visit and/or shop the aforementioned businesses, but was denied varying levels of access by a blatant disregard for the disabled.

The mass filings sent a shiver through the business sector and city channels, stirring up informational meetings, rallies and hope of protective legislation. 

At least two restaurants – Barnwood Restaurant and Isadore’s – have closed since a sweeping indictment of area businesses first became public in the spring of 2014, while tens of thousands of dollars have been invested into ramps, resurfacing and zoning of parking lots and other accommodations.

The panic and fear hasn’t dissipated, says Century Furniture owner Sam Guedoir. Business owners have attempted to distance themselves from Johnson and the ADA spotlight by requesting anonymity and declining interview requests.

Several have settled out of court, including Manteca Ford and Anderson’s Mower & Bike.

“Existing business, of course they’re worried. Some of them, they aren’t in compliance. When you go into the court system that could drive you to the end,” said Guedoir, whose store occupies an old building at one of the busiest intersections in Manteca. Johnson cited Guedoir for at least eight violations, or an estimated $40,000 in punitive damages.

“The other type of people are the ones who are about to start a business. Some of them, they will have second thoughts.

“This could happen to any potential business. You’re seeing a variety. They sued doctors. They sued retailers. They sued print shops and gas stations, which means no one is immune.”

Ward has answered many of Johnson’s charges against her salon, a staple on downtown Manteca’s western edge.

She paid approximately $15,000 to have the small parking lot resurfaced, and created a handicap space wide enough to accommodate a van. 

A 4-inch cement-and-asphalt ramp was poured outside the entrance to allow for wheelchair access and long-handled knobs were installed throughout the establishment.

 “It wasn’t cheap,” Ward said. “I’m still paying on it. I certainly don’t have that kind of money just lying around. Who does?

“We did what we had to do,” she later added. “We want to be in compliance, that’s for sure.”

Guedoir has retained a lawyer and plans to fight the charges lobbied against his corner store.

Century Furniture has been accused of having heavy doors at the front and rear entrances, improper hardware, and furniture impeding pathways throughout the store, among other violations. 

“Most of them,” Guedoir said, “are bogus, in my opinion.”

Like Ward, he’s due in a Sacramento court sometime in February 2016. Until then, he says he won’t make many changes – unless a customer has a complaint.

Scott Johnson wasn’t a customer, he says.

“It’s very subjective; this guy going around with a tape measure. I haven’t had any complaints. For 20 years I’ve had the same door … as long as I’ve been here,” he said. 

Guedoir believes Johnson is doing more harm than good. His lawsuits have put merchants out of business or forced them to cut back staff.

His reputation is not of an ADA activist but an extortionist, Guedoir says. 

“I don’t think a guy, an attorney who is supposed to have the knowledge of the law, would use the law to its full extent to basically go and extort the people,” Guedoir said. “… We’ll see how the court decides this.”