Mr. Eastwood Goes to Washington

By Stephen M. Silverman

09/16/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Clint Eastwood was in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to urge members of Congress to give small business owners such as himself more time to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The actor and filmmaker, 69, is being sued by Diane Zum Brunnen, a Californian who, among other claims, charged that at least one bathroom and the parking lot at Eastwood's 32-room Mission Ranch Hotel and Restaurant in Carmel, Calif., did not comply with ADA guidelines. She is asking Eastwood for $576,000 so she can pay her lawyer for the suit. Eastwood, speaking to The Washington Post, referred to himself as "a victim" in the case. He wants a 90-day period to allow business owners to comply with the law after a business is notified by a person or group registering a complaint.