A 60-year-old Carmichael man pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Sacramento to filing a false tax return and admitted that he failed to report more than a million dollars he received from settling litigation he initiated under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Scott Norris Johnson, a quadriplegic who uses a wheelchair for mobility, is well known in the Bay Area for suing small businesses where he allegedly encounters barriers to accessibility that violate the ADA. In 2021 alone, he filed more than 1,000 cases in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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Joe Dworetzky is a second career journalist. He practiced law in Philadelphia for more than 35 years, representing private and governmental clients in commercial litigation and insolvency proceedings. Joe served as City Solicitor for the City of Philadelphia under Mayor Ed Rendell and from 2009 to 2013 was one of five members of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission with responsibility for managing the city’s 250 public schools. He moved to San Francisco in 2011 and began writing fiction and pursuing a lifelong interest in editorial cartooning. Joe earned a Master’s in Journalism from Stanford University in 2020. He covers Legal Affairs and writes long form Investigative stories. His occasional cartooning can be seen in Bay Area Sketchbook. Joe encourages readers to email him story ideas and leads at joe.dworetzky@baycitynews.com.