First of three parts

Jerry Doran was more than 500 miles from his Tehama County home when he stopped at a Del Taco in Mission Viejo for some enchiladas -- or so he said. Doran, 52 and a paraplegic since a 1985 auto accident, said he encountered numerous problems at the restaurant: a wheelchair ramp that was too steep, a toilet that was too low, hand dryers that were too high. So, on Jan. 15, 2004, Doran did what he had done at least 223 times in California courts, suing the restaurant for violating the Americans With Disabilities Act.

When the restaurant company refused to settle, Doran's story literally became a federal case. How could he order enchiladas when the restaurant doesn't serve them, the defense wanted to know. Why did he complain about a hand dryer that doesn't exist? Did Jerry Doran even go to Del Taco that day?

The case, which Doran lost last summer, highlights one of the most emotional and contentious legal battles in California today: enforcement of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Across the nation, the federal law has been hailed by many as a civil rights triumph since its passage 16 years ago. But California laws allowing the nation's most generous payouts to disabled people who sue businesses have made this state a magnet for lawyers and plaintiffs and for aggressive, sometimes questionable practices.

"Despite the important mission of the ADA, there are those individuals who would abuse (it)... with the intent to profit financially," wrote U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney of the Central District of California, who ruled against Doran in July.

"Simply put," the judge wrote, "this litigation abuse of the ADA results in the exact harmful consequences that Congress sought to eradicate by passing the ADA."

A six-month investigation by The Bee found troubling cases across the state that have fueled the controversy:

• A disabled teenager was offered $1,000 by a San Diego attorney for every business he could visit to "find" ADA violations the attorney actually had already identified.

• Another disabled man who sued more than 50 businesses in Los Angeles later accused his lawyer of failing to ensure that the violations were fixed.

• Out-of-state lawyers have been lured to California by its laws, setting up shop to sue businesses, using local disabled people as clients.

• One Southern California man who issued a string of letters demanding payment for ADA violations turned out not to be a lawyer, but a self-described "nutritionist," better known to authorities for his Internet business arranging body-parts transplants overseas.

• A woman is facing prosecution on insurance fraud charges after allegedly faking a disability and filing access claims against several California cities. When confronted by police, the supposedly wheelchair-dependent woman tried to run away.

The San Diego-based Lawyers Against Lawsuit Abuse calculates that at least 14,550 ADA suits were filed in the state's federal courts between 1992 and July 2006. The lawyers group conservatively estimates that such suits cost California businesses $20 million each year.

Hundreds more lawsuits have been filed in state courts, and even some in small claims divisions.

"It's just a big shakedown, and nobody's doing anything about it," said Brian Crane, a San Bernardino businessman. Crane was stunned to learn this year that he was being sued for access violations after serving the disabled community for 30 years at his Mobile Help Inc. store, which sells customized equipment to the disabled.

Many disabled citizens reject that charge, arguing vehemently that businesses have had more than enough time to comply with the law. This, they say, involves nothing less than their civil rights.

"If they obeyed the law, there wouldn't be any lawsuits," said Laura Williams, president of Californians for Disability Rights, the state's oldest and largest advocacy group for the disabled.

As it turns out, both sides may be right.