This “Accessibility in the News, Legal Edition” page offers an ongoing collection of articles primarily related to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) news and analysis. Please bookmark this page to keep up to date on legal developments related to disabilities. Also, if you have a web page focused on disabilities, civil rights, or web development, we would appreciate a link back to this resource. Thank you!

ADA News: Updates on Accessibility Lawsuits, Complaints, and Legal Decisions

The articles and commentaries below focus on legal developments related to the ADA and other statutes such as the U.S. Rehabilitation Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), and various state disability laws. You’ll find news and analysis on cases addressing the accessibility of online content, as well as litigation related to physical access and travel barriers affecting people with disabilities. Most of the articles cover ADA Title III lawsuits, allowing you to review the chronological evolution of accessibility litigation and settlements.

This accessibility legal news is derived from Microassist’s Accessibility in the News (view archives here), a widely read, free weekly newsletter curated by Jack McElaney. We welcome you to subscribe for weekly updates. For a list of legal accessibility resources you can visit our Accessibility in the News, Legal Resources page.

NOTE: This page has third-party links that will open in a new tab.

Microassist offers accessibility audit, remediation, and development services to help you meet your legal requirements for your digital content and services. To begin making sure your website, third-party platforms, documents, and other digital assets are accessible to people with disabilities, please visit our Accessibility Services pages, or contact our Accessibility Team.

January 2020

Online Accessibility Legal News Recap for 2019

A review of legal activity in 2019 encompasses businesses from big to small, marketplaces both online and physical, as well as corporations, universities and government entities. Whether driven by compliance, risk mitigation or broadening market reach and customer engagement, these legal cases making headlines in 2019 reinforce the importance for organizations to consider their digital accessibility strategy and obligations to the disabled community.

Adapted post and full report

GSA Publishes Web Standards for Year-Old Digital Services Law

January 22, 2020 | Source: Nextgov & Federal Times & Federal News Network

The website design standards pull together existing guidance for complying with the 21st Century IDEA Act, which requires all digital services to have a base level of quality and accessibility. A year after passage of a law requiring federal agencies to improve the quality and accessibility of digital services, the General Services Administration on Wednesday released a set of website design standards agencies across government can use to meet that mandate…

November 2019

Discrimination Lawsuit Against Bridgeport Housing Authority Resolved By Justice Department

November 7, 2019 Source | Daily Voice

The Justice Department announced that the Housing Authority (HACB), doing business as Park City Communities, has settled after complaints that they violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and the Fair Housing Act. The agreement filed this week in U.S. District Court, requires HACB to institute broad reforms to safeguard the rights of individuals with disabilities, including revising its policies and processes for handling reasonable accommodation requests and developing an inventory of accessible units for tenants with mobility, vision, and hearing-related disabilities…

Federal Website Access Lawsuit Numbers Increase 7% in 2019, With Possible Bump from Supreme Court Denial of Cert in Domino’s

November 1, 2019 Source | Seyfarth Shaw

Website accessibility lawsuit filings in federal court in 2019 are on track to exceed 2018. Will we see an increase in filings as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision not to review the Ninth Circuit’s Order in Robles v. Domino’s? As of June 30, 2019, we counted 1204 website accessibility lawsuits filed in federal courts since January 1, 2019, for a projected total of 2408 by year end. This would constitute a seven percent increase over 2018’s numbers…

October 2019

Blind Employee Sues Beacon Health Options

October 31, 2019 Source | National Federation of the Blind

Amy Ruell, a blind licensed independent clinical social worker, is suing her employer, Beacon Health Options, because inaccessible software and online resources that it uses prevent her from doing critical parts of her job independently. Among other things, Ms. Ruell cannot fully participate in mandatory job trainings (although she is still tested on their content despite that fact), access patients’ clinical records in order to make accurate assessments and recommendations, or participate in virtual conferences with colleagues, the lawsuit says…

Several First-Of-Their-Kind Lawsuits Filed Alleging That Merchants’ Failure to Sell Gift Cards with Braille Violates the ADA

October 28, 2019 | Source: Blank Rome & Top Class Action Suits & Womble Bond Dickinson & Bryan Cave & Barnes & Thornburg & Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz

An enterprising plaintiffs’ lawyer has recently advanced a new theory of claim against retailers, restaurants, and other merchants for alleged violations of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Eight novel lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York allege the businesses’ failure to emboss gift cards with Braille is a barrier to blind and visually impaired individuals’ enjoyment of the services and privileges of the establishments…

More ADA Lawsuits Targeting Mobile Apps Are Likely Ahead

October 24, 2019 | Source: Rumberger Kirk & Caldwell |

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit earlier this year in Robles v. Domino’s Pizza LLC, became the first circuit to expressly extend Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act to mobile applications.[1] Among other things, Robles alleged in his complaint that, in addition to the website, he tried multiple times to order customized pizzas on the company’s mobile app, but that he “was unable to place his order due to accessibility barriers of unlabeled buttons that do not conform to Apple Inc.’s iOS accessibility guidelines.”…

LSAT to be made more accessible for visually impaired students after lawsuit

October 23, 2019 | Source: Daily Bruin

The analytical reasoning portion of the Law School Admission Test will be redesigned following a recent settlement with a legally blind test taker. Angelo Binno, who is legally blind, filed a lawsuit against the Law School Admission Council in May 2017 after the organization denied his request to skip the Analytical Reasoning section of the LSAT, according to a press release from Nyman Turkish PC, the law firm representing Binno. Following an Oct. 7 settlement with Binno, the LSAC will be looking for a new, more accessible way of assessing analytical reasoning…

Lawyer weighs-in on obese ‘serial filer’

October 19, 2019 | Source: Mail Tribune

Local businesses aren’t helpless against Jose Velez, a Florida man who’s filed numerous Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuits against businesses across the country, including three restaurants in Medford, according to a Southern California lawyer who beat Velez at his own game last year. But businesses can’t overlook the same disability laws that “serial filers” such as Velez capitalize on, says Ara Sahelian, a wheelchair-bound lawyer whose practice in Laguna Hills, California, specializes in defending businesses in ADA lawsuits…

She’s filed over 2400 civil rights complaints, including one at UO. We asked her why.

October 17, 2019 | Source: Oregon Daily Emerald

In 2017, disability rights activist Marcie Lipsitt filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education against the University of Oregon, alleging that several of UO’s webpages are not accessible to people with disabilities. She estimates that she’s filed around 2,400 civil rights complaints to the department’s Office for Civil Rights, some from her couch on her iPad. (In one instance, she crashed the Notes app on her iPad and had to get it fixed at an Apple store.) Sometimes, the websites of these schools might not have pictures with alt-text that describes what’s in the image, Lipsitt tells the Emerald…

Fast Food Restaurants Face Lawsuits Over Drive-Thru Accessibility

October 16, 2019 | Source: Food & Wine

Last month, James Privette and Shaunte Jones filed a class action lawsuit against Taco Bell, alleging that the fast food chain violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when its restaurants close their lobbies and only allow late-night orders to be placed through the drive-thru windows. In their complaint, which was filed in a California federal district court, the two plaintiffs state that Taco Bell’s drive-thrus “lack any meaningful accommodation” for visually impaired customers who cannot drive…

Egregious ADA-Litigation Scheme Highlights Need For Clarity On Law’s Application Online

October 15, 2019 | Source: Forbes

On the first day of the October Term 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a Domino’s Pizza petition asking it resolve a split among the federal circuits over whether websites are “places of public accommodation” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Even though the statute predates the Internet and contemplates only physical structures when prescribing private entities’ duties, the Ninth Circuit held that Domino’s failure to make its website “accessible” to a visually-impaired Californian violated the ADA…

Digitization primes restaurants for growth — and ADA lawsuits

October 14, 2019 | Source: Restaurant Dive

According to figures from the CDC, 26% of the United States population identifies with having a disability. That’s 61 million people who may need additional accommodations to enjoy a nice meal out. As a restauranteur, you hope to provide a great experience for everyone who patronizes your establishment. But then the question arises, how does one accomplish this? There are, of course, physical requirements for the building exterior and interior to be wheelchair accessible…

Online bookstores can be sued if they are not accessible for blind people

October 10, 2019 | Source: Good E-Reader

The US supreme court has passed a ruling that online retailers can be sued if their websites are not optimized for blind people. This is due to a lawsuit filed by a blind user against Domino’s Pizza and the justices turned down an appeal from Domino’s and let stand a U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling holding that the Americans With Disabilities Act protects access not just to restaurants and stores but also to the websites and apps of those businesses. If an online bookstore has both a physical location and a online website, and are based in the United States, they can now be sued…

The SCOTUS Decision On Robles v. Domino’s Case Could Have a Domino Effect For Other Corporations

October 7, 2019 | Source: Microassist |

The widely anticipated decision from the US Supreme Court regarding the Ninth Circuit’s Robles v. Domino’s case was announced on October 7, 2019. The Supreme Court denied a petition from pizza giant Domino’s on Monday to hear whether its website is required to be accessible to the disabled, leaving in place a lower court decision against the company. The case was originally brought by a blind man named Guillermo Robles, who sued the pizza chain after he was unable to order food on Domino’s website and mobile app despite using screen-reading software. The decision not to grant the case is a loss for the company and a win for disability advocates, who have argued that, if businesses do not have to maintain accessible sites, disabled people could be effectively shut out of substantial portions of the economy. The decision serves up a strong message to Domino’s and other corporations with an online presence. The ripple effect will most likely be felt by other US corporations with more plaintiff lawsuit filings for Title III ADA website violations.

A Fresh Look At An Old New Law: The Americans With Disabilities Act

October 7, 2019 | Source: Forbes |

The 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act is less than a year away. The landmark civil rights law for people with disabilities was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush on July 26, 1990, amid pride and high hopes in the disability community, and businesses’ misgivings about what they worried would be a well-meaning but vague and costly law. Since then, ADA anniversaries have become a kind of national holiday for the disability community. It’s a popular time of year for disability organizations to hold major public events, for editorial pages to reaffirm basic fairness towards disabled people…

Winery websites at the heart of lawsuits over ADA compliance online

October 5, 2019 | Source: Napa Valley Register |

As e-commerce booms, a winery’s website might be expected to provide a virtual experience that mirrors an in-person one – and now that applies to installing ADA compliant features. Passed in 1990, the ADA, or the Americans with Disabilities Act, guarantees equal opportunity to individuals with disabilities across different facets of public life. In the last two years, ADA compliance as it relates to online spaces has increasingly gained attention. It’s begun to apply to businesses across the board, wineries included…

Man with Autism Files Federal Lawsuit Against Disney Regarding Disability Policies

October 3, 2019 | Source: WDW News Today |

A man with autism is suing Disney for its disability access policy. The issue has been in legal battle for five years, but now the case has a court date to go ahead to trial on February 18, 2020. Before 2014, guests with disabilities, including autism, were allowed to enter attractions with their entire group via a handwritten card. The most common use of the card was for alternate entrances. While sometimes these alternate entrances were just the FASTPASS queue (hence people calling it “front-of-the-line access” despite often having up to 20 minute waits), guests unable to use stairs or who needed a special ride vehicle were often sent to a different load area..

New York Judge Criticizes Plaintiff’s ADA Firm For Refusing to Discuss Early Settlement and Engaging in Fee-Churning Litigation Tactics

October 2, 2019 | Source: Seyfarth Shaw |

Businesses are defending record numbers of ADA Title III cases every year. A recent decision in New York underscores the challenges business face when ADA plaintiffs are more interested in protracted litigation than settlement. The number of ADA Title III lawsuits filed annually has increased more than 300 percent in the last five years. Government officials and a few judges dealing with burgeoning caseloads have taken steps to reign in abuses…

September 2019

Airbnb, ADA are on a collision course

September 27, 2019 | Source: Barnstable Patriot |

You never know when you’ll come to love the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). For me, it was just over five years ago, when I became a wheelchair-using paraplegic. Also, when my 85-year-old mother used a wheelchair before and after her hip replacement. And again when my 7-year-old’s friend broke a leg skiing and had to use a chair for a while. You just never know, do you? The ADA guarantees people with disabilities the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in the mainstream of American life. Any entity open to the public is a public accommodation and has to remove barriers that keep me out…

County to upgrade parking deck after ADA lawsuit

September 23, 2019 | Source: Akron Beacon Journal |

The county will pay an Akron man $15,000 and make improvements to the county parking deck after he sued the county over the deck’s accessibility. Summit County Council on Monday passed a resolution authorizing the county executive to execute the settlement agreement with Spencer Neal of Akron, who has spina bifida, a birth defect that occurs when the spine and spinal cord don’t form properly. He uses a wheelchair, as he is paralyzed from the waist down, according to the lawsuit…

Group Files Lawsuit Against City Over Lack Of Accessible Crosswalk Signals

September 23, 2019 | Source: CBS and Disability Rights Advocates and SmartCitiesWorld and Curbed |

Chicago is still far behind other cities when it comes to audible crosswalk signals for the blind, as CBS 2 first reported last year. But one group isn’t waiting any longer for the city to install more. They’re taking action. The American Council of the Blind of Metropolitan Chicago and three individuals filed a class action lawsuit Monday, alleging the city is violating federal law by not having proper signals to help the blind cross the street. Chicago’s lack of the signals forces blind pedestrians to ask others when it’s safe to walk…

HUD Charges Georgia Company with Discrimination

September 22, 2019 | Source: AllOnGeorgia |

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that it is charging housing professionals based in New York, Pennsylvania and Georgia with discrimination for failing to design and construct the 40-unit North 8 Condominium development in Brooklyn, New York, in accordance with the accessibility requirements of the Fair Housing Act. Named as respondents by HUD’s charge are Toll Brothers, Inc.; Toll Land XIII Limited Partner; Lendlease (US) Construction LMB, Inc; Greenberg Farrow Architecture, Inc.; and 51 North 8th Street LP…

Beyoncé Was Sued Over Her Website Violating the Americans With Disabilities Act. And You Could Be Too

September 21, 2019 | Source: Fortune |

In January 2019, Beyoncé Knowles’ company, Parkwood Entertainment, became the defendant in a class-action lawsuit alleging that it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The suit, filed by a blind woman from New York, claimed that the company’s website, Beyonce.com, did not provide accommodation for people with significant vision impairments, leaving an estimated 2 million blind people and others with vision impairments unable to access the primary portal for news about all things Bey…

Blind Woman and EEOC Settle Lawsuit against California Hospital

September 20, 2019 | Source: NFB |

Alina Sorling, a blind food service technician, has settled the lawsuit she brought against California’s Dignity Health for employment discrimination with the assistance of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the National Federation of the Blind. Ms. Sorling filed suit after she was fired from her job at Dignity Health’s Mercy Medical Center in Redding, California, after losing her vision and requesting reasonable accommodations to continue working there…

Fifteen years after accessibility lawsuit, UB still not compliant

September 18, 2019 | Source: The Spectrum- University at Buffalo

Emily Tout had a problem with her class in Norton Hall last semester. She couldn’t get into the nearest bathroom. Tout uses a wheelchair. She had to ask a friend to carry her from the hallway, into the stall, to the sink and then back out to her wheelchair. She roamed around the building looking for an accessible bathroom before resorting to the “embarrassing” tactic. Connor Gow, who has been paralyzed from the waist down since September 2014, had to balance his laptop on his lap for three-hour stretches in Capen Hall last semester. His classroom didn’t have an accessible table…

The Seventh Circuit holds “indignation” is not an injury-in-fact

September 18, 2019 | Source: Seyfarth Shaw

In a recent decision, the Seventh Circuit agreed with the Fourth Circuit in holding that a plaintiff who is legally barred from using a credit union’s services cannot demonstrate an injury in fact that can support standing to sue. The plaintiff in Carello v. Aurora Policeman Credit Union, a blind man, sued the Aurora Policeman Credit Union under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) alleging its website was not accessible to him through screen reader software…

OSD Student Leverages ADA Lawsuit Win To Demand Change

September 17, 2019 | Source: CSULA University Times

Roy Payan, a visually impaired student, said he is using his lawsuit win against Los Angeles City College (LACC) as leverage to better the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance at Cal State LA. The UT reached out to Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) and Informative Technology Services (ITS) but heard back from Cal State LA spokesman Robert Lopez. Lopez said “ADA compliance is a top priority” for the school. Lopez added that ITS staff and senior administrators are working with Payan to discuss ADA issues on campus…

Brooklyn condo discriminated against people with disabilities, HUD alleges

September 16, 2019 | Source: amNY

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced charges Monday against developers and architects of a Brooklyn condominium that allegedly discriminated against people with disabilities. The charges name Toll Brothers, Greenberg Farrow Architecture and others involved with the design and construction of North 8 Condominium — a 40-unit residence in Williamsburg. HUD said multifamily buildings constructed after March 1991 must contain features that make them accessible and functional for people in wheelchairs…

Taco Bell lawsuit reflects tech’s ADA challenges

September 16, 2019 | Source: Restaurant Dive & Restaurant Business

A federal lawsuit was filed against Taco Bell last week claiming that the company’s late-night drive-thru only service is discriminatory against people who can’t drive because of sight impairments, and therefore violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to Restaurant Business. The company’s policy prohibits stores from serving pedestrians who walk up to the drive-thru window, citing safety concerns. The suit seeks a discontinuation of the drive-thru-only service or the chain’s no-pedestrians-at-night policy, as well as undisclosed punitive damages…

Sidewalk ADA compliance could cost Bradley County $7.2 million

September 12, 2019 | Source: Cleveland Daily Banner

Work is underway countywide to make sure Bradley County meets requirements related to the Americans with Disabilities Act and accessibility. The Bradley County Commission heard an update on the ongoing Self-Evaluation & Transition Plan, which must be filed with the state in December; the plan must be filed before communities can re-sign for Transportation Improvement Program certification. Commissioner Kevin Raper, chairman of the County Commission’s Road Committee, introduced the ADA transition plan presentation…

California court finds inaccessible website violates ADA

September 10, 2019 | Source: Benefits Pro and Published Decision- PDF

a. No Longer a “Whisper” – California Appellate Court Joins List of Courts to Weigh in on Website Accessibility

September 10, 2019 | Source: Bryan Cave

b. California Court Of Appeal’s Midvale Decision Opens The Floodgates For More Website Accessibility Lawsuits

September 11, 2019 | Source: Seyfarth Shaw

c. California Appellate Court Adopts Broad Standing for Claims Based on Asserted ADA Violations

September 11, 2019 | Source: Pepper Hamilton

A California appellate court last week joined courts across the country that have found the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to the websites of brick-and-mortar businesses. In a 33-page published decision written by Justice Maria Stratton, the Second District Court of Appeal affirmed a lower court judgment finding that the owner of the Los Angeles restaurant The Whisper Lounge had violated the ADA—and, therefore, the state’s anti-discrimination law—by failing to render its website accessible to blind customers…

ADA compliance knocks sheriff’s website offline

September 5, 2019 | Source: Gainesville Sun

Sheriff Sadie Darnell’s staff have been working for at least nine months to ensure the agency’s website is ADA compliant. The threat of a lawsuit has kept the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office website on ice for nine months — and it may be at least two more months before it’s back up and running. “I’m very frustrated,” said Sheriff Sadie Darnell. “I’m anxious to get it back online.” Art Forgey, public information officer for the sheriff’s office, said the website was initially taken down to avoid a lawsuit over compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act…

Paralyzed Veterans of America requests court order to address airplane restroom accessibility for disability community

September 4, 2019 | Source: Financial News

Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) has announced it is seeking a court order compel the DOT to make airplane lavatories accessible to travelers with disabilities, the organization said. The action results from DOT ignoring its Congressional mandate to address this issue and continuing to deny full restroom access for veterans and travelers with mobility impairments. On May 20, 2019, after DOT stated it would issue a proposed rule addressing lavatory accessibility by December 2019, the Court put a hold on the lawsuit led by PVA and required DOT to provide ongoing status reports…

Court of Appeal rules many websites must be coded to let blind people use them

September 3, 2019 | Source: San Francisco Chronicle

California Appellate Court Finds Inaccessible Website Violates ADA

September 4, 2019 | Source: Law.com

Restaurants, hotels and other businesses that serve the public in California must make their websites accessible to the blind, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday. The 1990 federal law prohibiting discrimination against the disabled in any place of “public accommodation” applies to websites where people can make reservations, said the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles, the first appellate court in California to rule on the issue. It rejected arguments that the law applied only to actions at the restaurant or place of business and not to a website…

Blind Woman Files Employment Discrimination Suit against Amazon.com

September 3, 2019 | Source: National Federation of the Blind

Maryann Murad, a blind Howell resident, and the National Federation of the Blind, the nation’s oldest and largest organization of blind Americans, have filed suit in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against Amazon.com for employment discrimination. Amazon is the world’s largest Internet retailer and currently employs more than 647,000 people worldwide. In the first quarter of 2019 it earned approximately $59.7 billion in revenue…

Judge: Lawsuit can continue vs Cubs over Wrigley wheelchair seating arrangements

September 3, 2019 | Source: Cook County Record

A wheelchair user has won the chance to continue his lawsuit against the Chicago Cubs over his claims Wrigley Field doesn’t have enough seating for fans with disabilities. On Aug. 30, U.S. District Judge Jorge L. Alonso refused the Cubs’ request to dismiss the legal action brought by David F. Cerda, accusing the Cubs of not providing enough seating for wheelchair users, and enough of the special seating throughout the ballpark, at their home park on Chicago’s North Side…

August 2019

Another appeals court rules in favor of CUs in frivolous ADA suit-

August 27, 2019 | Source: CUNA News

CUNA, Leagues and credit unions achieved their third victory at the appellate level Tuesday as the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a frivolous lawsuit alleging website noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). CUNA and the Michigan Credit Union League (MCUL) filed an amicus brief in support of the two credit unions in the lawsuit, Aeroquip CU and Belle River Community CU. Credit unions around the country have been hit with similar suits alleging violations of the ADA, however the statute does not contain specific website accessibility guidelines…

US Department of Education investigating UO for possible violations of disability discrimination laws

August 27, 2019 | Source: Oregon Daily Emerald

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating a 2017 complaint made against the University of Oregon that alleges university webpages, including its homepage, financial aid page and the UO Libraries Facebook page, are not accessible to people with disabilities. The investigation is assessing whether UO’s webpages violate federal civil rights laws by discriminating against people with disabilities. It is also assessing whether the university is failing to ensure that its communications with those who have disabilities are “as effective as its communications with others” …

Florida Judge Sanctions Serial ADA Plaintiff Alexander Johnson And Attorney Scott Dinin

August 26, 2019 | Source: Seyfarth Shaw

US Judge Sanctions Miami ADA Lawyer, Client Over ‘Completely Selfish’ Frivolous Lawsuits

August 27, 2019 | Source: Law.com

People often ask us why plaintiffs are filing hundreds of ADA Title III lawsuits when the law only allows for injunctive relief and attorneys’ fees and costs. In the case of prolific plaintiff Alexander Johnson, it was a nice cash supplement to his disability income, apparently. U.S. District Judge Paul Huck determined after a sanctions hearing that Attorney Scott Dinin had paid Johnson more than $84,500 over three years (2016-2018) for his participation in various ADA lawsuits…

Venice reached agreement on ADA suit over website access

August 24, 2019 | Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune

The city of Venice has reached a settlement agreement with Andres Gomez and Open Access for All, Inc. on a lawsuit filed by Gomez in April over the ADA accessibility of the city website. Gomez, who is legally blind, has been a plaintiff in a series of suits filed against municipalities in Florida and California. The Venice Council is slated to approve the agreement as part of its consent agenda Tuesday. The settlement, which was handled for the city by Randy Mora of Clearwater-based Trask Daigneault LLP attorneys, calls for the city to pay Gomez and his counsel $10,000…

Austin ‘ADA’ attorney suspended from law practice in State of New York

August 22, 2019 | Source: KXAN

Attorney Omar Rosales, who filed hundreds of Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuits against Austin businesses on behalf a single client and was suspended from practicing in the Federal Western District of Texas for three years, has been suspended in the State of New York as well, according to an August 21 order. The New York suspension will last three years. It is a “reciprocal” disciplinary measure resulting from misconduct in the Texas ADA cases, according to the New York order. This suspension is the latest of several measures, including sanctions and lawsuits, taken against Rosales since he began filing ADA cases in Central Texas in 2015…

Lawyer with Crohn’s disease goes public with Starbucks story to publicize bathroom-access laws

August 22, 2019 | Source: ABA Journal

A lawyer with Crohn’s disease hopes to raise public awareness about bathroom-access laws with a personal story about his quest to use a bathroom at Starbucks. Stephen Marcus, 64, helped get a law passed in Massachusetts requiring retailers to open employee-only restrooms to people who have inflammatory bowel diseases in medical emergencies. He told the Boston Globe that he tried to invoke the law at a Boston Starbucks in May when he had an acute need to use the bathroom, only to be turned away…

Oklahoma Burger King franchise to pay $30,000 to settle disability discrimination lawsuit

August 22, 2019 | Source: Tulsa World

The operators of a Lawton Burger King restaurant have agreed to pay a job applicant with an intellectual disability $30,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency announced Thursday. The EEOC filed suit in July 2018 alleging the defendants, Houston-based fuel retailer Northwest Petroleum LP and Burger King franchisee Travis County Investments, LP (collectively referred to as NWP) withdrew a job offer from an applicant who sought employment as a dining room and bathroom attendant…

ADA and Community Associations: Best Practices in Handling Requests

August 22, 2019 | Source: Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani |

Most people are generally familiar with the concept that hotels, restaurants, and other places of public accommodation are subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). However, as we have mentioned before, community associations can fall under the scope of the ADA as well. The ADA is a sweeping set of federal statutes that applies to places of public accommodation, amongst other entities. The ADA framework seeks to prohibit discrimination against disabled persons…

Federal Court Rules in Favor of Blind Students

August 21, 2019 | Source: National Federation of the Blind

The National Federation of the Blind, its California affiliate, and two blind students, Roy Payan and Portia Mason, have won their disability discrimination lawsuit against the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). The Federal District Court for the Central District of California Found that LACCD violated the students’ rights under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 by, among other things, failing to provide them with accessible documents and course materials, failing to provide equal access to library resources…

Domino’s plaintiff to SCOTUS: Give ADA web accessibility case law time to develop

August 15, 2019 | Source: Reuters |

a. Domino’s Wants Supreme Court To Limit Disabilities’ Rights Law

August 15, 2019 | Source: Media Post |

b. Plaintiff Robles Files His Opposition To Domino’s Petition For Certiorari

August 14, 2019 | Source: Seyfarth Shaw |

c. Domino’s and the Web are Failing the Disabled

August 16, 2019 | Source: WIRED |

d. Domino’s asks Supreme Court to weigh in on website accessibility

August 19, 2019 | Source: Eversheds Sutherland |

e. The internet’s accessibility reckoning

August 20, 2019 | Source: Axios |

f. Domino’s is at the center of an ‘internet accessibility’ fight, and the oven’s heating up

August 21, 2019 | Source: The Hustle & The Good Men Project |

Business groups are clamoring for the U.S. Supreme Court to dam a deluge of litigation over the accessibility of their websites and mobile apps to disabled customers. As I told you last month, trade groups and right-leaning public interest shops have filed amicus briefs urging the justices to grant review of a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed a blind Domino’s customer to move ahead with claims that the pizza company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act because its website and mobile app were not fully accessible to him…

A blind man is suing Wind Creek Bethlehem over its website. Here’s why.

August 14, 2019 | Source: Lehigh Valley Live |

A blind Bucks County man is suing the new owners of Bethlehem’s casino, claiming its website isn’t accessible to the millions of Americans who are visually impaired. John Mahoney filed the class action complaint against Wind Creek Bethlehem LLC on Aug. 7. The suit alleges the casino’s website violates Title 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act because it does not provide equal access to the visually impaired. It asks the court for a permanent injunction to force Wind Creek Bethlehem to make its website fully accessible to the blind…

Removal of M14 Select Bus Service stops violates the ADA: Lawsuit

August 14, 2019 | Source: amNY |

Nearly three decades after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and a quarter-century after a class action lawsuit was filed by the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association against New York City, a New York judge approved a plan July 23 to make all of the city’s sidewalk curbs accessible to wheelchair users within the next 15 years. This was necessary because, as The New York Times wrote in 2017, a federally mandated report “found that the majority of the city’s curb ramps are still not in compliance with federal requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act…

Website Accessibility and the ADA- Attorneys Eve Hill and Minh Vu discuss website accessibility litigation

August 9, 2019 | Source: Legal Talk Network(Podcast) |

Domino’s Pizza Sued By Blind Man Who Says He Can’t Use Their Website

August 13, 2019 | Source: NPR (Podcast) & The American Genius |

In a highly watched case, Robles, v. Domino Pizza LLC, Guillermo Robles, who is blind, filed a lawsuit against Domino’s back in 2016 after he was unable to order a custom pizza from the company’s website and mobile app. His attorneys argued that Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which entitles those with disabilities to equally partake in and benefit from goods and services from businesses such as restaurants, applies to the online sales platforms of those companies with brick-and-mortar locations…

CUNA, Ohio League attend arguments in appellate-level ADA case

August 8, 2019 | Source: CUNA |

CUNA, along with the Ohio Credit Union League, attended Thursday’s arguments before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati. The cases are Brintley v. Aeroquip CU and Brintley v. Belle River Community Credit Union, two Michigan-based credit unions hit with frivolous lawsuits claiming website noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). CUNA filed amicus briefs with the Michigan Credit Union League supporting the credit unions’ appeal of the denial of their motion to dismiss…

Daytona man’s disabilities lawsuits cause records jams for cities in Volusia, Flagler

August 10, 2019 | Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal |

Daytona Beach resident Joel Price, who according to court documents is legally blind, has filed at least 130 federal lawsuits in Florida’s Middle District since 2016. His latest suit was filed against the city of Edgewater in June.

If you’re having trouble finding what you’re looking for on your city’s or county’s website, even information you know used to be there, you’re not alone. For years, common documents like commission agenda packets have been easy to download and view in minutes…

Businesses on the Florida Suncoast- Is Your Website ADA Compliant?

August 10, 2019 | Source: The Sarasota Post (Video) |

The lawsuits continue to mount. Several businesses on Anna Maria Island, Florida were sued and other businesses in the Clearwater, Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice areas have been targeted. There is legal concern happening in the digital atmosphere that may affect your business. In the last couple of years there has been an uptick in Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuits when it comes to website accessibility. Advocates for the disabled say websites need to be as accessible for everyone, just as brick-and-mortar stores must be. There have been judgements / settlements in excess of $20,000…

Fox Theatre must provide captions for performances on demand, appeals court says

August 7, 2019 | Source: St. Louis Post- Dispatch

The Fox Theatre must provide captions for the deaf or hard-of-hearing at performances whenever a patron asks, not just one matinee performance per Broadway run, an appeals court said Wednesday. The 2-1 opinion from a panel of the 8th U.S. Court of Appeals found “that the Fox’s one-captioned-performance policy denies persons with hearing impairments an equal opportunity to gain the same benefit as persons without hearing impairments, and that deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals therefore do not have meaningful access to the benefits the Fox provides.”…

New laws enhance access to education for deaf students and families

August 7, 2019 | Source: Press of Atlantic City |

For the first year and a half of his life, Cole Renart lived 60% of his day in language isolation. Born without any hearing, Cole was 17 months old when he began receiving early intervention with a deaf American Sign Language teacher while he was at daycare. “Within three months, his language exploded,” said Amy Andersen, an ASL teacher at Ocean City High School and 2018 New Jersey Teacher of the Year, who helped lobby the state for Cole’s interventions. “It was the first time it had been done in the state of New Jersey.”…

ADA Accessible Websites Remain Costly Liability Exposure For Foodservice & Hospitality Businesses

August 6, 2019 | Source: Total Food Service |

a. Is Your Restaurant Website Making The Right Connections?

August 7, 2019 | Source: Total Food Service |

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) based discrimination claims alleging inaccessibility of business websites have increased dramatically over the last several years, potentially costing businesses millions of dollars in settlements as of the latest targeted litigation trends. Enacted in 1990, the ADA prohibits employment discrimination, discrimination by government and other public services organizations and applies to all public accommodations and services provided by private companies…

Blind Hoosiers File Lawsuit Against the Indiana Division of Family Resources

August 6, 2019 | Source: Brown Goldstein Levy & The Statehouse File & WFYI |

Reviewing and selecting insurance and benefits are important processes that should be personal and private. For Christopher and Sarah Meyer, siblings who are blind, the print-only benefits communications they received from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA), its Division of Family Resources (DFR), and their contractors not only forced them to rely on other people to intercept and read their private information, but caused them to lose their benefits…

Department of Transportation backtracks on legal obligation to take action addressing airplane restroom accessibility for travelers with disabilities

August 6, 2019 | Source: Law.com |

Today, Democracy Forward on behalf of Paralyzed Veterans of America requested a federal court to lift its hold on their lawsuit to compel the Department of Transportation to issue a long-overdue rule to make airplane restrooms accessible to travelers with disabilities. Today’s action results from DOT ignoring its Congressional mandate to address this issue and continuing to deny full restroom access for veterans and travelers with mobility impairments…

Blind siblings sue the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration

August 6, 2019 | Source: The Statehouse File |

The Indiana Department of Family and Social Services Administration has been sued in federal court to provide tools that would allow blind Hoosiers to access their benefit information. Siblings Christopher and Sarah Meyer and the National Federation of the Blind filed the lawsuit Tuesday to compel the state and its contractors to communicate in Braille or in screen-to-text speech screen readers. The Division of Family Resources is also named in the lawsuit…

City Reaches Agreement with HUD on Accessibility at Affordable Housing Sites

August 2, 2019 | Source: MyNewsLA &HousingWire |

a. Amid Its War On Fair Housing Protections, HUD Takes A Rare Aggressive Action Against Los Angeles

August 7, 2019 | Source: Pacific Standard |

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced an agreement with Los Angeles Friday to resolve a longstanding dispute over access for the disabled at city affordable housing projects. The agreement is expected to free up millions of dollars in federal funding for public housing in the city. “As a result of this settlement, thousands of individuals with disabilities, including those experiencing homelessness in the city of Los Angeles, will have equal access to affordable housing and access to cutting-edge features that will enable them to live independently”…

Serial plaintiff, a blind man who sues owners of websites, rebuffed by Seventh Circuit

August 5, 2019 | Source: Legal News Line |

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled that a blind plaintiff regarded as a serial litigant seeking quick payoffs lacked standing to sue a credit union over the accessibility of its website. The court made the ruling July 15, with Judge Amy C. Barrett finding the plaintiff lacked standing to sue because he failed to allege an injury in fact and upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss the claim. The ruling states plaintiff Matthew Carello is blind and uses a screen reader to navigate the internet, and the defendant Aurora Policeman Credit Union’s website allegedly does not offer support for the reader…

Domino’s asks the Supreme Court to shut down a lawsuit requiring its website be accessible to blind people

August 1, 2019 | Source: The Verge & Cole Schotz |

a. Domino’s wants Supreme Court to say websites don’t have to be accessible

August 2, 2019 | Source: Ars Technica |

b. Domino’s Fights Website Accessibility Ruling in Supreme Court, Social Media Weighs In

August 2, 2019 Source:Pop Culture |

c. Domino’s asked Supreme Court to shut down the lawsuit filed by a blind man

August 2, 2019 | Source: Tech Observer |

d. Domino’s is locked in a legal battle over the future of web design

August 5, 2019 | Source: Fast Company |

e. Domino’s Pizza delivers a game-changing case to the US Supreme Court

August 6, 2019 | Source: Quartz |

f. Domino’s Could F’ Up the Internet for People With Disabilities Because They Won’t Just Fix Their Website

August 6, 2019 | Source: Gizmodo |

Domino’s, the leading US pizza chain that pinned its remarkable turnaround nearly a decade ago on an investment in technology, is currently waging a legal battle so that it does not have to make its website accessible to the blind. The case, which began three years ago as a lawsuit by blind US resident Guillermo Robles, may go all the way to the US Supreme Court, CNBC reports. The eventual result could become a landmark decision over the rights of people with disabilities and the responsibility of companies to retrofit mobile apps and websites for accessibility…

New Haven schools settle discrimination lawsuit for $390K

August 2, 2019 | Source: New Haven Register |

The New Haven school system settled a lawsuit over a teacher’s accessibility to her building for $390,000. Paula Langlois, a Fair Haven School teacher with multiple sclerosis who uses a wheelchair, sued the district over lack of accommodations in February 2017 after filing a formal complaint against the district with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities in May 2016 before being given the right to sue. According to the settlement, which was signed on March 29 and obtained by the Register this week, the school board must pay $132,455 for Langlois’ legal expenses…

When Good Sites Go Bad: The Growing Risk of Website Accessibility Litigation

August 2, 2019 | Source: Pierce Atwood |

For a growing number of companies, websites are not only a valuable asset, but also a potential liability risk. In recent years, the number of website accessibility lawsuits has significantly increased, where plaintiffs with disabilities allege that they could not access websites because they were incompatible with assistive technologies, like screen readers for the visually impaired. If you have never asked yourself whether your website is “accessible,” or think that this issue doesn’t apply to your company, read on to learn why website accessibility litigation is on the rise…

Attorneys in MTA Disability Discrimination Suit Seek Mediation

August 1, 2019 | Source: Spectrum News NY1 |

a. MTA plans accessibility upgrades at dozens of subway stops, but has yet to reveal which ones

August 2, 2019 Source:Curbed NY |

Advocates for people with disabilities have long demanded that Gov. Cuomo direct the MTA to settle a class action lawsuit accusing the transit agency of discriminating against people in wheelchairs. “The only thing we want to hear is a binding legal agreement with a schedule to get us to full accessibility, period. That’s it,” Sasha Blair-Goldensohn, a disability advocate and plaintiff in the suit said. “Everything else is just talk, just window dressing.”

Now there’s another chance to settle, without the governor’s help…

What Dealerships Need To Know About Website Accessibility Lawsuits

August 1, 2019 | Source: Fisher Phillips |

In a recent web alert, we discussed the compliance challenges that many dealerships face when dealing with employees with disabilities. However, as many dealers have found, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not apply to employees only. Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination based on a disability in places of public accommodations. Those claims generally involve customer complaints relating to tangible physical barriers, such as bathroom accessibility issues and parking lots. But they can also include issues relating to a purely digital domain…

Calvert sponsors bill to protect small businesses from ADA ‘serial litigants’

August 1, 2019 | Source: Ripon Advance |

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee is considering a newly proposed bill sponsored on July 30 by U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) to reform the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for America’s small businesses. “Small businesses and the jobs they create continue to be under siege by serial litigants, who manipulate well-meaning laws, like the ADA, just to line their own pockets,” Rep. Calvert said. The congressman introduced the ADA Compliance for Customer Entry to Stores and Services (ACCESS) Act, H.R. 4099, to amend the ADA of 1990 to promote compliance through education…

Mother files complaints about handicapped accessibility for Thompson Park playground

August 1, 2019 | Source: NNY360 |

A mother who has a 5-year-old boy with cerebral palsy has filed a formal complaint with the city that the Thompson Park playground violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. On Tuesday, the mother, Chantel Taylor, filed paperwork with the city’s ADA officer asserting that the playground does not meet safety or ADA compliance. Ms. Taylor said the loose woodchips make it difficult for her son, Ashton, to maneuver around the playground in his wheeled walker, use any of the stations in the playground or connect with other children…

July 2019

Senators Seek Updates & Further Action on Justice Department Efforts to Clarify Website Accessibility Under ADA-

July 30, 2019 | Source: Chuck Grassley & ABA Banking Journal |

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr seeking updates on the Justice Department’s efforts to clarify whether and how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to websites. Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) also joined the letter. The members sent a previous letter to the Department in 2018 urging it to help resolve regulatory uncertainty…

Blind Taxpayers Sue the IRS- Print-only Notices Result in Financial Penalties for Blind Taxpayers

July 25, 2019 | Source: Brown Goldstein Levy |

Berkeley businesswoman Karen Rose, who is blind, was about to throw away what she thought was junk mail when a friend noticed that it was from the IRS. It turned out to be a second notice that she owed nearly $25,000 in additional taxes. When she contacted the agency, she learned that she had also incurred an additional $1,500 in interest and penalties because she hadn’t responded to the first notice. A representative from an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center helped her appeal the penalties when Karen explained that she couldn’t read the printed letters…

Business groups urge Supreme Court to wade into ADA website litigation fray

July 16, 2019 | Source: Reuters |

The battle over whether websites are covered by the American with Disabilities Act may be headed to the Supreme Court. The Retail Litigation Center and the National Retail Federation on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take a case that will enable the Court to establish a reasonable, nationwide standard for evaluating website accessibility claims filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act. At issue is whether a website is a “public accommodation” like a physical store within the meaning of the ADA…

Retailers ask Supreme Court for clarity in ADA website claims

July 16, 2019 | Source: Chain Store Age |

The Retail Litigation Center and the National Retail Federation on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take a case that will enable the Court to establish a reasonable, nationwide standard for evaluating website accessibility claims filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Sports Venues and the Americans with Disabilities Act

July 15, 2019 | Source: The National Law Review- Jackson Lewis |

Throughout the country, sports teams and their venues have been hit with an uptick of public accommodation lawsuits under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), along with its state and local counterparts. The ability to obtain attorney’s fees makes these cases attractive to plaintiffs’ firms. Plaintiffs include fans, who team up with firms to travel around facilities or sign onto websites to “test” ADA compliance, and others who felt aggrieved after attending an event…

Inclusion and the Internet – Applying ADA Regulations to Retail Websites and Mobile Apps

July 15, 2019 | Source: The National Law Review- Ballard Spahr |

As courts determine the applicability of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the digital landscape, litigation involving the accessibility of online services is continuing to evolve. Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Domino’s Pizza must comply with the ADA to make online services—namely, their website and mobile application—fully accessible to people with visual impairments. In Robles v. Domino’s LLC, a visually impaired man filed suit in federal court against Domino’s…

Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre to make new ADA accommodations after court ruling

July 15, 2019 | Source: KING5 |

Seattle’s historic 5th Avenue Theatre will be modified to improve access for those with disabilities following a lawsuit. In December 2018, the Washington Civil & Disability Advocates (WACDA) filed a suit in federal court against the 5th Avenue Theatre Association for not having adequate accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Washington resident Rhonda Brown filed the initial suit. Brown requires a scooter for mobility and claimed in her suit that the facility was not ADA compliant…

Businesses face lawsuits over website accessibility

July 15, 2019 | Source: Marketplace (Podcast) |

Last fall, Jason McKee was bouncing around business ideas with two friends when they realized something: all three had a family member or friend with a disability, that made it difficult to access the internet. They soon discovered something else: people with disabilities, specifically those who are blind or visually impaired, were filing Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuits against businesses over website accessibility issues. And many of them were winning…

How a Laudable Historic Renovation Led to ADA Violations

July 14, 2019 | Source: Whitman Legal Solutions |

College Street Music Hall in New Haven, Connecticut is one of many historic movie theaters which have been preserved. Many have been given new lives as live music performance venues. With more than a century of use as a performance venue, the location first was home to the Rialto movie theater. When the Rialto burned down, the Robert Sherman Theatre was built on the location in 1926. After a period of inactivity, the theatre reopened at the Palace Theatre in 1984…

Fenty Beauty Accused of “Intentional Discrimination” in New Lawsuit Over the Accessibility of its e-Commerce Site

July 12, 2019 | Source: The Fashion Law& HYPEBAE |

Fenty Beauty has been slapped with a new lawsuit, accusing it of engaging in “intentional discrimination” by “making it impossible” for visually impaired customers to “properly and fully utilize its [e-commerce] website.” According to the case that Beatriz Gutierrez filed against Fenty Beauty in state court in a Los Angeles, the industry-disrupting beauty brand – which is a joint venture between music mega-star Rihanna and French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton – is the latest in a growing list of brands being taken to court for allegedly running afoul of California state civil rights law…

County looks to settle with serial litigator over ADA noncompliant website

July 9, 2019 | Source: Naples Daily News |

It is a “gotcha” situation and Collier County got got. “It is what it is,” County Attorney Jeff Klatzkow said ahead of his recommendation the county settle a lawsuit filed by a visually impaired Miami man over the county’s website. Juan Carlos Gil filed the suit in June, alleging that the county’s website is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act because not all the documents can be accessed by the blind. “Our site is not 100 percent ADA compliant,” Klatzkow acknowledges. “There isn’t a site in the country that’s 100 percent ADA compliant.”…

Lawsuit claims MTA discriminates against disabled riders

July 6, 2019 | Source: Fox5NY (Video) |

The MTA has been hit with a lawsuit alleging that they discriminate against transit riders with disabilities. The non-profit group Disability Rights Advocates say that only about 24% of subway stations in New York City are accessible to the disabled, which they claim is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. “The MTA must acknowledge that accessibility must be a top priority,” Disability Rights Advocates said in a statement. “They can no longer continue to prioritize amenities like Wi-Fi and artwork over the ability of their customers with disabilities to ride the subway.”…

Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty reportedly sued over lack of access for visually-impaired customers

July 4, 2019 | Source: Revolt & HotNewHipHop |

Although The Navy believes that Rihanna can do no wrong, there are others who question that theory. According to a new report from The Blast, the Anti singer was hit with a lawsuit earlier today (July 4). A visually-impaired customer, Beatriz Gutierrez, filed a lawsuit against Fenty Beauty for lack of access for visually impaired customers. Gutierrez, who is visually-impaired and legally blind, states that the beauty website is not equipped to handle her needs. She further explains that Riri’s beauty company doesn’t utilize standard screen-reading technology…

Fourth Circuit Says Inability To Get Information From Website, Without More, Is Not Enough To Establish Standing To Sue

July 3, 2019 | Source: Seyfarth Shaw |

Courts in the Fourth Circuit are taking a hard look at a plaintiffs’ standing in website accessibility cases. In a small but potentially important victory for defendants facing website accessibility lawsuits, the Fourth Circuit has issued two decisions upholding dismissal of lawsuits for lack of standing with a well-reasoned analysis that can be applied to the defense of other lawsuits…

Attorney’s Office Of Louisiana: Justice Department And Dillard University Agree To Renewal And Extension Of Settlement Agreement

July 1, 2019 | Source: The Louisiana Record

The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana announced the renewal and extension of a settlement agreement with Dillard University, a Historically Black College and University in New Orleans, Louisiana, under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The settlement agreement consummates a 17-year effort to resolve a compliance review of the campus that devolved from a complaint lodged against Dillard regarding an inaccessible building…

June 2019

Does your NYC Business Meet ADA Website compliance standards

June 29, 2019 | Source: Foreign Policy 2018

As companies around the globe try to bring the websites into compliance with the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (or for short, WCAG), their focus on other accessibility regulations has also increased. The US’ Americans with Disabilities Act, or for short ADA, is one of the most complicated pieces of accessibility regulations. In this article, you will be able to read about what is ADA compliance, what does it say about your website, and you will also learn if it is necessary for your site. Let’s take a look:…

Trump Signs Law Improving Disaster Planning For Those With Disabilities

June 26, 2019 | Source: Disability Scoop |

The federal government will be required to do more to consider the needs of people with disabilities when hurricanes, fires and other disasters strike under a new law signed by President Donald Trump. The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act, which was signed by the president this week, calls for the creation of a national advisory committee specifically focused on disaster planning for those with disabilities…

Parking spaces and bathrooms, sure – but is your website compliant with the ADA?

June 26, 2019 | Source: FW Business |

I was recently asked by a client about ensuring that their website is compliant with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). That’s right, while most employers are aware the ADA requires public places to be accessible to those with disabilities (i.e., parking spaces, ramps, curbs and bathrooms), few are aware that this obligation likely extends to the company website. Wait, the ADA applies to websites?! Yes. While the ADA does not explicitly mention the internet, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) — the primary enforcer of the ADA…

Charlotte County to pay $10,500 over ADA lawsuit; make website more accessible

June 22, 2019 | Source: Charlotte Sun |

A settlement was reached last week in a lawsuit Charlotte County faced over its website. The county was sued in federal court in January by Juan Carlos Gil, a blind man from Miami. Gil has filed dozens of other similar lawsuits against businesses and local governments claiming online access is not equal for disabled people, citing violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Gil’s screen reader which he uses to dictate words online, doesn’t work with content like PDF documents…

A ‘blitz of lawsuits’ against Philly restaurants: Was it a ‘money grab’ or helping blind consumers?

June 22, 2019 | Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer |

For nearly three months, the Philadelphia eateries were under siege by a lawyer for blind New Yorkers. In December 2017, lawyer C. K. Lee represented a Long Island man who sued Federal Donuts, claiming the doughnut and fried chicken shops’ website wasn’t fully accessible to blind people. The next month, Lee sued again, this time for a client in Queens against the Oyster House in Center City. Lee later targeted Campo’s Deli on behalf of a Manhattan woman who, by that February, had already sued six Philly restaurants with Lee as her lawyer…

Colleges improve website accessibility as they are defendants in lawsuits

June 19, 2019 | Source: Ithaca Journal |

Several New York universities and colleges are improving the accessibility of their websites to individuals with disabilities while facing lawsuits alleging their websites do not comply with standards from the Americans With Disabilities Act. About 50 institutions are being sued, and 11 of them are from upstate New York, including Cornell University, Ithaca College, Rochester Institute of Technology and Nazareth College. The lawsuits state that the plaintiff, Jason Camacho, a legally blind man who requires screen-reading software to read website content…

Wendy’s served with class action over drive thru accessibility for the blind; McDonald’s battling similar cases

June 18, 2019 | Source: Cook County Record |

As McDonald’s battles similar legal actions, Wendy’s has become the latest fast-food chain served with a class action lawsuit over late-night drive-through accessibility for people with impaired vision. In a complaint filed June 14 in federal court in Chicago, Nicole Davis, of Chicago, and Jesse Zamora, of California, alleged Wendy’s committed “systematic civil rights violations” by keeping its drive-through windows open later than walk-in dining rooms, meaning there are certain hours each day during which only people who can drive a car or who are riding in a vehicle can place an order…

Did Santiago Abreu Actually Visit Riverbend Eatery? Does He Even Exist?

June 18, 2019 | Source: Westword |

The legal-looking envelope arrived at Riverbend Eatery in Bailey in February 2016. Owner Michael Abbondanza waited until he was home in Conifer with his son, Michael III, to open it. Inside was an eleven-page legal document filed with the U.S. District Court of Colorado claiming that Riverbend Eatery was out of compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. According to the complaint, plaintiff Santiago Abreu had moderately severe multiple sclerosis and used a wheelchair to get around…

Plaintiffs File Lawsuit Against Seattle Mariners for Allegedly Providing Inadequate Accommodations for Those With Disabilities

June 17, 2019 | Source: Goldberg Segalla |

A nonprofit disabilities-rights law firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of four disabled Seattle Mariners fans in October 2018 against the Mariners and the Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District, which owns the team’s ballpark, T-Mobile Park. The four plaintiffs claim that the ballpark violated state and federal law, including the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991 (ADA). These plaintiffs are Washington residents who claim they encountered issues with seating, food service, or access to certain parts of the stadium and endured “second-class treatment” when they attended games at the ballpark…

One man, 18 months, 124 ADA lawsuits over websites

June 14, 2019 | Source: WHEC |

On Monday, one of the most exclusive wineries in the Finger Lakes got sued because of its website. The person suing Belhurst Estate Winery in Geneva is also suing 124 other places, and it’s all because of their websites. The plaintiff’s name is Thomas Olsen. He is blind and lives in Brooklyn. The lawsuit says the winery’s website isn’t set up to let Olsen use his technology and read the website and therefore it stops him “from visiting defendants’ hotel.”…

Madison Village Hall situation raises questions about ADA compliance

June 14, 2019 | Source: The News Herald |

Madison Village became aware almost 30 years ago that its government office building didn’t comply with access requirements stipulated by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Yet in 2019, as leaders intensified efforts to relocate their governmental home base, the Village Hall at 126 W. Main St. still did not conform with ADA accessibility standards. Madison Village’s situation raised questions about what is expected of communities occupying old government buildings that are not ADA accessible…

7 Seattle hotels sued for alleged violations of Americans With Disabilities Act

June 13, 2019 | Source: KIRO-TV |

A local battle is being waged in Seattle on behalf of disabled tourists with worldwide access to hotel websites. Federal complaints have recently been filed in the United States District Court for Western Washington against seven Seattle hotels alleging they don’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, in effect since 1992. However, a general manager for one of those hotels told KIRO 7 the lawsuits are simply a: “shakedown” for money. Mike Meagher has worked at The Moore Hotel for more than 30 years…

Domino’s Files Petition for US Supreme Court Review of Unfavorable Website Access Decision

June 13, 2019 | Source: Seyfarth Shaw & Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner |

Domino’s filed its petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court today, June 13, 2019, asking the Court to review and overturn the Ninth Circuit’s decision which allowed a website accessibility lawsuit to proceed against Domino’s. Domino’s styled the question presented as “Whether Title III of the ADA requires a website or mobile phone application that offers goods or services to the public to satisfy discrete accessibility requirements with respect to individuals with disabilities.” …

Uber sued over wheelchair accessibility in Pittsburgh

June 12, 2019 | Source: Smart Cities Dive & The Legal Intelligence |

Uber is facing a class action lawsuit brought by individuals in the Pittsburgh area for not providing wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs) in that city. Plaintiffs say Uber is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and denying wheelchair users equal access to ride-hailing services. The lawsuit, brought by Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) and Carlson Lynch LLP, does not seek monetary damages. It instead asks that Uber modify its policies and practices to make WAVs more available on its platform…

Website Accessibility Alert: Court Addresses Mootness Argument in Website Accessibility Case

June 10, 2019 | Source: Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner |

SDNY Dismisses Website Accessibility Lawsuit Based On Mootness And Lack Of Personal Jurisdiction

June 11, 2019 | Source: Seyfarth Shaw |

In ADA Website Accessibility Cases, Remediation May Be a Successful Defense

June 13, 2019 | Source: Pepper Hamilton |

As businesses continue to face lawsuits and demand letters alleging that their websites are inaccessible to blind and deaf patrons in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), courts across the country continue to weigh in on the issue. On Tuesday, June 4, 2019, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a decision in Diaz v. The Kroger Co. – holding that the Court lacked both subject matter and personal jurisdiction over the case because the complaint had been rendered moot by modifications defendant made to the website…

Disability community wins ruling in fight for subway access

June 10, 2019 | Source: Workers World |

In the hallways of the court at 60 Centre St. on June 5, lawyers for disability rights activists declared an accessibility hearing “an unqualified success.” Disability activists had brought an anti-discrimination lawsuit against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to require it to install elevators in every New York City subway station. Currently, only about 20 percent of the city’s subway stations have at least one elevator. Even fewer if you consider that many subway stations have multiple subway lines, all of which are not accessible by elevator and a high percentage of MTA elevators are out of order at any one time…

Owners of non-ADA compliant websites could face lawsuits

June 6, 2019 | Source: FOX 13 News |

If you’re a small business owner and have a website, your website may not be accessible for people with disabilities and you don’t even know it. A number of small business owners are finding out by getting sued. This week, a Bay Area business owner reached out to FOX 13 saying a law firm is targeting them for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act on their website, and it’s a growing trend across the country. “Winn Dixie was sued for website violations, and it’s the only case that I know of that’s gone to trial. They lost,” said attorney Dan Anderson of Anderson Law Group in Clearwater…

A ray of hope for ADA website defendants? N.Y. judge tosses case for mootness

June 6, 2019 | Source: Reuters |

In 2018, disabled plaintiffs filed more than 2,250 suits in federal court alleging that corporate websites were insufficiently accessible to them, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. According to Seyfarth Shaw, which tallied the cases, the growth of ADA website accessibility litigation has been nothing short of staggering. Fewer than 240 federal court suits claiming website inaccessibility were filed in 2015 and 2016, according to a 2016 Wall Street Journal report. In 2017, the number of filings was up to 814 – and it increased by nearly 200% last year…

As Summer Approaches, the SDNY Once Again Provides Hope for Businesses Exhausted by Repeated Website Accessibility Lawsuits

June 6, 2019 | Source: The National Law Review |

While businesses have long grown weary of the plaintiff bar’s seemingly endless stream of website accessibility lawsuits, it appears that judges in the SDNY may be increasingly feeling the same way. For the second time this spring, following on the back of the decision in Mendez v. Apple, a judge in the SDNY, in the case of Diaz v. The Kroger Co., 18-cv-7953 (KPF), has granted a business’ motion to dismiss a website accessibility lawsuit. While decided on multiple grounds, the Court’s decision is primarily based on mootness…

Maryland Settles Discrimination Case by Blind Inmates for $1.4 Million

June 5, 2019 | Source: Brown Goldstein Levy |

Nine current and former Maryland prison inmates have settled their discrimination lawsuit, Brown v. Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, for $1.4 million in damages and attorneys’ fees. The Maryland Board of Public Works has just approved the settlement payment. Under the settlement, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) will modify prison procedures and provide assistive technology for the blind to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other applicable laws…

People Are Suing For Being Born — And Winning

June 5, 2019 | Source: 10 Daily |

Should you be entitled to compensation when, if but for the negligence of another, you would not have been born? This is the question underpinning a number of civil cases often called ‘wrongful life’ actions. Wrongful life cases commonly involve a severely disabled plaintiff suing a doctor for failing to provide information about a risk of disability to their mother. The action is usually seeking monetary compensation for a life of disability, which could have been avoided if a mother had knowledge prior to conception or had exercised her right to an abortion…

Judge: Lawsuit against MTA over lack of subway elevators can move forward

June 5, 2019 | Source: WABC-TV & CBS & amNY & Queens Daily Eagle |

A judge ruled Wednesday that a class-action lawsuit against the MTA over a lack of elevators in the subway system can move forward. Advocates were eager for their day in court, while the city and MTA hoped the judge would dismiss the case. Demonstrators held another protest outside the courthouse, just as they did a few weeks ago before the last hearing. “We can’t get to work, doctor’s appointments, shopping or social and cultural events quickly and on demand like everyone else,” activist Monica Bartley said…

Hot Off the Presses: New Cases in CA and NY Strike Blows at Boilerplate ADA Complaints

June 4, 2019 | Source: Steptoe |

Retailers and other companies have been increasingly caught up in an explosion of boilerplate claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), focusing on both websites and physical stores. While the plaintiffs’ bar has had a strong run with these claims in recent years, recent decisions in the Southern District of New York, as well as a new complaint filed by the Riverside District Attorney, have given hope to companies defending against the (unfortunately common) frivolous claims in this space that the tide may be finally turning…

Wineries Struggle with ADA Website Compliance in Wake of New York Class Action Lawsuits

June 3, 2019 | Source: Wine Industry Advisor |

When Scott Osborn, owner of Fox Run Vineyards near Seneca Lake in upstate New York, first heard that winery websites should be addressing the needs of visually impaired people last October, he said he and his team immediately began to work on “getting our site up to standard.” In January he got sued. And his business wasn’t the only one. According to the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, last fall, 26 wineries from Long Island and the Hudson Valley were named in a class action lawsuit and another 12, including Fox Run Vineyards, in January…

May 2019

Pack the court for NYC subway elevators, June 5!

May 28, 2019 | Source: Workers World

The fight for accessibility in New York’s public transportation system is approaching a critical milestone on June 5. That’s when New York State Supreme Court Judge Hagler will make a fateful decision on the lawsuit to mandate elevators in the subway. Supporters of this popular demand are being asked to once again pack the court that day, just two weeks after 50 people packed the same judge’s court on May 21 for the same lawsuit. Wheelchair users turned out en masse, lining one entire side of the court, and supporters spilled into the aisles of the courtroom…

3 Famous Companies Sued Over Website ADA Compliance

May 27, 2019 | Source: Journal Enterprise

Over the last decade, the number of lawsuits filed against companies for having a non-compliant ADA website has increased significantly. Initially, when the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) was enforced in 1990, the internet was not as widely used as it is today. Moreover, the common misconception that many companies have when it comes to ADA compliance is ensuring that they meet the physical requirement. For instance, installing accessible bathroom stalls, handicap ramps or button activated doors…

Lawsuit filed over Calif. recreation reservation website unusable by the blind

May 24, 2019 | Source: San Francisco Chronicle

A $66 million contract that was supposed to let people make reservations online for state parks and campgrounds has produced a website that is inaccessible to nearly 1 million blind or vision-impaired Californians, and the contractor should reimburse the state, a leader of the Bay Area’s blind community says in a lawsuit. Bryan Bashin, CEO of LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco and a self-described outdoor enthusiast, said he was eagerly awaiting the debut of the ReserveCalifornia.com site in August 2017…

Legal battle brewing: Deadline nearing for Pensacola restaurant accused of violating ADA

March 23, 2019 | Source: 3WEARTV

A local business owner says he’s being targeted by a law firm for allegedly violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. Jordan Valley owner, Tamer Ghboun says the violations are minor, but the compensation the firm is demanding is major. Ghboun was served at the end of March. The lawsuit cites violations such as the building’s door handle, bar counter height and the bathroom lacking the “international symbol of accessibility”…

Serial ADA lawsuit filer indicted in Sacramento on federal tax fraud charges

May 23, 2019 | Source: Sacramento Bee

Sacramento-area attorney Scott N. Johnson, who has sued thousands of small businesses in Northern California alleging violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on charges that he filed fraudulent tax returns on funds he received from the lawsuits. Johnson, a quadriplegic whose lawsuits have garnered settlements, forced ADA improvements at various storefronts and driven some firms out of business, was charged with three counts of making and subscribing a false tax return, U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott’s office said.

Blind Man Resolves Employment Discrimination Case with Amazon.com

May 23, 2019 | Source: NFB

Alfredo Estrada has reached an agreement with Amazon.com to resolve claims that Mr. Estrada filed in July 2018 with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. He was represented by the TRE Legal Practice with the assistance of the National Federation of the Blind. Mr. Estrada, who is blind, was hired for a part-time sortation associate position at the Amazon.com sortation center in Vacaville and requested accommodations when reporting for his first day of work in October 2017…

How can owners and landlords avoid access discrimination claims in their commercial spaces?

May 21, 2019 | Source: NYREJ

Commercial landlords are increasingly faced with lawsuits and administrative agency discrimination claims filed by disabled individuals seeking accommodations to allow equal access to office and retail spaces. Federal, state and local laws protect the rights of disabled individuals and were written to break down the barriers that the disabled face day-to-day. The Americans with Disabilities Act, and similarly the NYS Human Rights Law and NYC Human Rights Law, prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of any place of public accommodation…

Lack of subway station elevators ‘just plain not fair,’ judge says at MTA suit hearing

May 22, 2019 | Source: amNY & Gothamist

A judge in State Supreme Court on Tuesday lambasted the MTA’s poor wheelchair access in subways. During a hearing in a case arguing that the authority’s subway inaccessibility violates the city’s Human Rights Law, Judge Shlomo Hagler said the MTA wasn’t doing enough to install elevators at its 472 city subway stations. Only about a quarter of stations are wheelchair accessible, and it’s time the MTA put “the money where their mouths are” to fund more elevator installations, Judge Hagler said…

Navigating the Murky Waters of ADA Compliance in the Internet Age

May 21, 2019 | Source: New York Law Journal

In recent years, many companies have been swept up in a wave of lawsuits claiming that certain private commercial websites are inaccessible to users with disabilities and thus violate Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For example, blind individuals, who use screen-reader software to access the Internet, have alleged that they are unable to visit certain websites that have not been properly coded to convert visual information to audio translations…

For law firms on the web, online accessibility for the disabled is good business

May 21, 2019 | Source: ABA Journal

When it comes to making the law more accessible online, few can claim a longer history than Cornell University Law School’s Legal Information Institute. Since its founding in 1992, the LII has undertaken many notable projects, including republishing the Code of Federal Regulations, running a legal encyclopedia for quick definitions and understanding of legal topics, and conducting research into the readability of the law. Now, the organization is taking a step back and looking at its online infrastructure to make sure its content can be accessed by all people, including those with disabilities…

American Coffee Shop Closes after 3rd ADA Lawsuit

May 20, 2019 | Source: Bigtime Daily

On April 30th, Jason’s Cafe closed after three different ADA lawsuits were filed against the restaurant. The cafe had been doing business in Menlo Park, California for 11 years. These lawsuits were all filed for different reasons: the width of bathroom stalls was too narrow, the front door was too heavy, and the lines for the handicap spaces in the parking lot were faded beyond recognition. Restaurant owner Jason Kwan says the building was old–built 40 or 50 years ago. This was before the ADA was in place…

New York Lawmakers Plan To Address Website Accessibility

May 20, 2019 | Source: Seyfarth Shaw

A Committee in the New York State Senate aims to develop a legal standard for the accessibility of business websites under New York law, in response to the exponential increase in website accessibility litigation in the state. Whether state legislation could stem this tide, or instead make matters worse for businesses, remains to be seen. According to a recent article published in the New York Law Journal, a committee of state legislators in New York plan to develop a legal standard for website accessibility, in the wake of years of regulatory inactivity by the federal government…

Fraud Whistleblower Seeks Redress For Inaccessible Public Website That Cost California $66 Million

May 20, 2019 | Source: TRE Legal Practice

TRE Legal Practice alleges that Xerox Corp. and Conduent, Inc., defrauded taxpayers when the two companies built a $66 million state park reservation website that hundreds of thousands of Californians with disabilities cannot use. The suit seeks damages on behalf of the People of the State of California and injunctive relief on behalf of a blind representative plaintiff, Bryan Bashin. Mr. Bashin, a longtime outdoor enthusiast, was excited to learn of the launch of a new system that promised to “provide more user-friendly web services and greater accessibility to more visitors for the highly sought-after camping and lodging locations“ in California state parks…

Blind Employee Sues Los Angeles County for Discrimination

May 17, 2019 | Source: National Federation of the Blind

For Sharon Watson, a blind licensed clinical social worker with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health since 2004, it was bad enough that the county deployed software—the Integrated Behavioral Health Information System (“IBHIS”)—that wouldn’t work with her text-to-speech screen reader in 2014. The department has made matters even worse by refusing to provide Dr. Watson with a dedicated, qualified reader to help her complete the administrative tasks that she can no longer accomplish independently…

Federal Court Allows Class Action Website Disability Access Case to Proceed Against An Employer

May 17, 2019 | Source:Jackson Lewis

While we continue to wait for guidance from the government on website accessibility standards, plaintiffs continue to challenge the accessibility of company websites. For years, individuals have brought lawsuits claiming that their access to goods and services is limited under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities (“ADA”). More recently we have seen individuals challenge their access to employment under Title I of the ADA due to online application processes that they claim are not accessible…

Disability rights groups sue MTA, say NYC subway renovations without elevators break the law

May 15, 2019 | Source: NY Daily News & amNY & City Limits & Law.com

Legislators may force MTA to install elevators during extensive subway renovations

May 16, 2019 | Source: amNY

Disability rights groups filed a major lawsuit against the MTA Wednesday, arguing the agency’s repeated decisions to complete major subway station renovations without adding handicap-accessible features violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. The suit specifically refers to the statute of the ADA requiring public entities make transit stations accessible to those with disabilities and those who use wheelchairs whenever it changes the usability of a station…

The Americans With Disability Act Of 1990 Poses Legal Challenge For Winery Websites Today

May 10, 2019 | Source: Forbes

You might ask: what does the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) have to do with selling wine? Plenty, is the answer from Barbara Snider, at Hinman & Carmichael, LLP. According to Snider, “ There is an on-going ADA regulations battle being waged against commercial websites ; including those operated by wineries and other alcoholic beverage industry members.” Many small companies have been targeted by ADA compliance lawsuits lately, but Snider says, “Wineries and alcoholic beverage industry members are the new targets…” and it’s happening online…

Feds sue builder Miller-Valentine for ignoring disability regulations

May 10, 2019 | Source: Dayton Daily News & WVXU & Tribune-Review & Fox19 & Imperial Valley News

Ohio-based builder Miller-Valentine failed to design and construct housing units and other facilities to make them accessible to people with disabilities, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice. A press release cited Miller-Valentine and associated companies that built 82 multi-family complexes in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia…

Two bills sponsored by Rep. Luria passed out of committee

May 9, 2019 | Source: 13 News Now

House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs passed 18 bills, two of which were sponsored by Congresswoman Elaine Luria. Rep Luria’s second bill, H.R. 1199, or the VA Website Accessibility Act of 2019, advocates for a study into the accessibility of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs website resources for veterans with disabilities. Congresswoman Luria introduced this bill after meeting with blind veterans in order to ensure that all VA online resources are accessible to every veteran…

Blind Navy vet sues 120+ local governments, businesses over websites

May 9, 2019 | Source: ActionNewsJax.com

Blind Navy veteran Joel Price has filed more than 120 lawsuits against city and county governments and businesses, saying their websites aren’t accessible to the visually impaired. That’s because those websites don’t work with screen reader programs. Some local governments have already settled and spent tens of thousands of tax dollars to make the changes. Florida School for the Deaf & the Blind Assistant Technology Coordinator Patrick Turnage relies on screen reader programs to access information online…

Businesses feel victimized by lawsuits over online accessibility for the blind

May 8, 2019 | Source: WWBT NBC12 News

When you think about a business being accessible to people with disabilities, you might think of handicap parking spaces, railings and ramps for wheelchairs. But businesses say they’re being blindsided by lawsuits for an issue many say they didn’t know they had. Their websites don’t work with screen readers used by the blind. We asked Maryetta Grabowski, who is blind, to show us how her screen reader reads website information aloud to her, enabling her to book rides, get news and shop online…

Disability rights groups reach settlement with DC over emergency preparedness

May 8, 2019 | Source: JURIST

After negotiations following a years-long lawsuit against the District of Columbia (DC), several disability advocacy groups and the district announced a settlement Tuesday, with the district agreeing to a number of significant improvements for thousands of residents and visitors with disabilities. United Spinal Association, DC Center for Independent Living, and two District residents with disabilities sued in 2014 alleging that DC’s emergency preparedness failed to meet the standards of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the District of Columbia Human Rights Act…

What Law Enforcement Executives Need To Know About Website Accessibility Claims

May 8, 2019 | Source: Rumberger Kirk & Caldwell

The new battleground for plaintiffs filing Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) accessibility cases involves claims of barriers, not in physical space, but in cyber space. Lawsuits claiming that public webpages are not accessible to disabled users are being filed in Florida at an alarming rate. So far, most of these suits have been directed at private businesses, such as grocery stores, restaurants, retail stores, shopping centers, and hotels, known as “public accommodations” under Title III of the ADA…

ADA Restaurant Website Surfing Suits on the Rise

May 8, 2019 | Source: Modern Restaurant Management

For the past several years, we have seen a steep increase in litigation in the hospitality industry brought under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These suits often contend that certain aspects of buildings, bathrooms and parking lots do not comply with the Act’s detailed regulations for building standards. Title III requires private businesses to accommodate disabled patrons who visit their property by removing barriers to their goods and services, if such removal would be “readily achievable.”…

Visually Impaired Man Sues Pokémon Company Over Non-ADA Compliant Website

May 7, 2019 | Source: Variety

A visually-impaired man is suing The Pokémon Company because he says one of its websites is not equally accessible to blind consumers and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), according to court documents filed on Monday. Derrick Dennis of Queens, New York is legally blind and needs screen reading software to view a website’s content on his computer. He says the Pokémon Center website, which sells a variety of branded merchandise, including t-shirts, mugs, figures, and trading cards, contains numerous barriers that prevent him and other visually-impaired people from fully accessing its services and goods…

Disability Settlement with Greyhound Results in 3 Million Payout

May 5, 2019 | Source: TravelPulse

Over 2,100 people experienced disability discrimination by Greyhound and have received a settlement payout since 2016. On Thursday, the Department of Justice announced that $2.96 million were issued to individuals who were traveling or attempting to travel on Greyhound and were faced with disability discrimination of some sort. The company also paid $300,000 in 2016 to specific individuals chosen by the Department of Justice, as well as a $75,000 civil penalty to the government…

Northam vetoes legislation to change Virginians with Disabilities Act

May 3, 2019 | Source: Augusta Free Press

Governor Northam today vetoed House Bill 2296, which would change the Virginians with Disabilities Act (VDA) by requiring a claimant to provide at least 120 days of notification to financial entities prior to the commencement of a lawsuit regarding web accessibility. This legislation would change the VDA by requiring a claimant to notify financial entities including banks, trusts, savings institutions, and credit unions, at least 120 days prior to commencement of a lawsuit regarding web accessibility…

News10NBC Investigates: RIT, Naz caught in explosion of ADA website lawsuits

May 3, 2019 | Source: WHEC

All week News10NBC investigated the thousands of lawsuits accusing the owners of restaurants, malls, art galleries and wineries of discriminating against people with disabilities. Critics call the lawsuits a cash grab by serial plaintiffs and their lawyers. News10NBC learned Friday that the Rochester Institute of Technology, Nazareth College, and dozens of other colleges and universities have been sued for the same violations by the same guy from Brooklyn…

Lyft fights to avoid Americans with Disabilities Act in federal court

May 2, 2019 | Source: Politico&Fast Company

Lyft argues it should not be subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act and is fighting a federal class action lawsuit filed in Westchester County on the grounds that “it is not in the transportation business.” It’s an argument long employed by app-based companies like Lyft and Uber, and it’s one that experts in the field continue to scoff at. “According to their public filings their mission is to improve people’s lives with the world’s best transportation,” said former New York City Taxi Commissioner Meera Joshi…

ADA lawsuits top 2,338 in New York; target malls, colleges, wineries and art galleries

May 1, 2019 | Source: WHEC

More and more lawsuits are getting filed against restaurants, malls, wineries and art galleries for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. News10NBC found one man responsible for more than a hundred of them. Our investigation started Tuesday. Now, News10NBC is finding out why the system allows all these lawsuits to happen. The bottom line is there is nothing illegal about the lawsuits, so there is nothing to stop them. But critics say this is a cottage industry designed to make money for lawyers, not fix problems…

April 2019

Crop of ADA Suits Say Corporate Websites Are Unfriendly to Blind Users

April 30, 2019 | Source: New Jersey Law Journal

A frequent filer is going after a half-dozen companies claiming their websites are not accessible to blind and visually impaired people in violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Burlington Coat Factory and Wyndham Hotels were hit with lawsuits Monday in the District of New Jersey, and similar suits were filed on Sunday against True Religion Apparel and Forever 21 in the District of Delaware. Steve Madden Handbags Inc. in the Eastern District of New York and Jimmy Choo USA in the Southern District of New York were also hit with similar lawsuits on April 16…

Ninth Circuit Reaffirms Applicability of ADA to Websites

April 30, 2019 | Source: The National Law Journal

In 2001, I wrote a law review article opining that the “public accommodations” provision of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to the internet. I argued that public accommodations are not limited to physical structures and concluded that companies doing business with the public on the internet should maintain websites that are accessible to visually impaired individuals or risk violating the ADA. Eighteen years later, litigation involving website accessibility under Title III has skyrocketed, and there are no signs of plaintiffs slowing down…

Disabled students say BYU lacks accessibility, may break federal law

April 26, 2019 | Source: KUTV 2News (Video)

Disabled students have accused BYU of lack of accessibility on campus, and said the university may be breaking federal disability statutes. BYU maintained Friday it’s not so, saying its program to accommodate the disabled is “robust,” and that it “complies with all applicable disability laws.” Kendra Muller, a disabled student who just graduated from the university, is leading a group of seven which calls itself the Equal Access and Disability Rights Commission…

Lawmakers must address punitive effects of ADA lawsuits

April 26, 2019 | Source: The Ledger

For almost 30 years the federal Americans with Disabilities Act has inspired or forced government agencies and private companies to alter how they conduct business. These changes have benefited society, and we must continue to ensure the law’s intent is met so disabled citizens can enjoy full access to public venues. Yet it’s also true, and unfortunate, that when the ADA was enacted in 1990 few could foresee the rise of the internet as a staple of our daily lives — and the need to make it comply with a law designed to facilitate access by reworking or removing physical barriers…

Longboat seeks dismissal of website lawsuit

April 24, 2019 | Source: YourObserver.com

Joel Price, a blind Daytona Beach man who has sued Longboat Key and dozens of other Florida towns, cities and counties over access to their official websites, has filed at least a dozen more actions since early March. All take the same basic form as the one he filed against Longboat Key in early March, which specified the town must “update all electronic documents made available to the public to remove barriers in order that individuals with visual disabilities can access the electronic documents to the full extent” of federal law…

ADA Request Launches Changes in Gulfport’s Website

April 24, 2019 | Source: Gulfport Gabber

It started with a letter sent to the city of Gulfport earlier this year. The correspondence was not a lawsuit but a specific request for what is called “remediation” or compliance to have certain online documents on the municipal website be made more accessible based on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), said David Mather, the city’s IT and Library director. Mather is also one of three full-time staff whose job responsibilities include updating the city’s website where hundreds of public records like meeting agendas and videos, memos, resolutions, architectural and sewage plans, and the current annual budget are usually posted…

NY Lawmakers Plan to Address Surge in ADA W