Seyfarth Synopsis: A state court has granted the Arizona Attorney General’s Motion To Dismiss approximately 1,700 Arizona access lawsuits on grounds that the organizational and individual plaintiffs lacked standing to sue.

As we previously reported here, the Arizona Attorney General responded to a surge of approximately 1,700 access suits filed in that state’s courts by moving to consolidate, to intervene in, and to dismiss all of such actions initiated by self-styled disability rights advocacy groups, including Advocates for Individuals With Disabilities Foundation (“AIDF”) and David Ritzenthaler.  According to a recent communication from the Arizona AG’s office describing his court appearance on February 17, 2017,  the Arizona trial court judge on that date orally granted the AG’s motion to dismiss virtually all of the consolidated cases with prejudice and directed the AG to submit a proposed form of judgment.

There currently is no written decision laying out the Court’s reasoning for its decision, so it is not clear which of the AG’s arguments persuaded the court to issue this decision.  The AG’s Motion to Dismiss challenged both the individual’s (Ritzenthaler’s) and AIDF’s standing to bring claims under what the AG described as the “rigorous” standing requirements of Arizona law. The AG presented several arguments about how the Plaintiffs failed to meet these requirements.  First, the AG argued that the Plaintiffs failed to allege that they patronized the businesses that they sued.  Second, the AG asserted that the Plaintiffs failed to allege an actual barrier to their access.  The AG noted that the state accessibility law violations identified in the consolidated complaints concern accessible parking signage, but that plaintiffs “assume that every instance of non-compliance with ADA or AZDA regulation, no matter how minor, represents a ‘barrier.’”  The AG then stated that “not all instances of ADA or AZDA non-compliance are barriers, and not all barriers deny access to all persons with disabilities.”  Third, the AG  asserted that Plaintiffs’ claims were insufficient because they failed to sufficiently allege denial of access based upon their particular, identified disability.  Fourth, the AG argued that Arizona does not recognize a “deterrence” theory of standing, which conceivably might overcome other failures in the complaint.  Fifth, the AG argued that the consolidated plaintiffs fail to allege the additional standing requirements for injunctive relief:  That the plaintiffs provided prior notice or an opportunity to remediate alleged violations and allege an intent to patronize the businesses in the future.

If the court issues a written opinion explaining the basis for his ruling, we will update you.

In an interesting peripheral note, the Arizona Attorney General’s office has notified affected parties that the Court also stated that it would consider applications for attorneys’ fees and costs following its ruling, and noted that, should any affected party be interested in filing a fee petition, it should keep in mind that any fee request “must be in sufficient detail to enable the court to assess the reasonableness of the time incurred.”  Schweiger v. China Doll Rest., Inc., 138 Ariz. 183, 188 (App. 1983).  Based upon the AG’s comments, this portion of the ruling apparently extends beyond the AG’s own attorneys’ fees and costs, potentially including any defendant who hired counsel to defend against Plaintiffs’ 1,700 dismissed actions prior to entry of the stay.

Edited by Minh Vu.

Seyfarth Synopsis: A disability advocacy group behind approximately 1,700 Arizona access lawsuits breaks new ground by filing suit against the Arizona Attorney General, in an unusual counter-attack to the AG’s motion to dismiss those cases for lack of standing. 

As we previously reported here, the Arizona Attorney General (“AG”) responded to a surge of access suits filed in that state’s courts by moving to consolidate and to intervene in all actions initiated by self-styled disability rights advocacy groups, including Advocates for Individuals With Disabilities Foundation (“AIDF”) and David Ritzenthaler.  The state court granted the AG’s motions on September 23.  Soon thereafter the AG filed a Motion to Dismiss and For Judgment on the Pleadings.

In a further twist on this story, AIDF and Ritzenthaler have now sued AG Mark Brnovich in his official capacity for mandamus relief against the AG and for attorneys’ fees and costs.  Specifically, the Plaintiffs seek an order that the AG must initiate an investigation into the violations that have been alleged in approximately 9,000 complaints allegedly filed with the AG’s office.  Plaintiffs argue that the AG is required to investigate such complaints under state law, and has failed to do so. Plaintiff further alleges that non-compliance with the state’s accessibility statute is widespread, apparently citing an AIDF press release.

Whether or not this tactic is an effective litigation strategy remains to be seen.  The AG’s pending Motion to Dismiss challenges both the individual’s (Ritzenthaler’s) and the organizations’ standing to bring their claims under Arizona law.  According to the AG, Arizona has a “rigorous” standing requirement, which the plaintiffs in the consolidated matters fail to meet for several reasons.  First, they fail to allege that they patronized or attempted to patronize the defendants’ businesses.  Second, the AG argues that the plaintiffs fail to allege an actual barrier to their access.  The AG noted that the state accessibility law violations identified in the consolidated complaints concern accessible parking signage, but that plaintiffs “assume that every instance of non-compliance with ADA or AZDA regulation, no matter how minor, represents a ‘barrier.’”  The AG then states that “not all instances of ADA or AZDA non-compliance are barriers, and not all barriers deny access to all persons with disabilities.”  Third, the AG asserts that plaintiffs fail to sufficiently allege standing because they did not allege denial of access based upon an identified disability.  In other words, the plaintiffs do not link an identified instance of non-compliance to their particular disability.  Fourth, the AG argues that Arizona does not recognize a “deterrence” theory of standing, which conceivably might overcome other failures in the complaint.  Finally, the AG argued that the consolidated plaintiffs fail to allege the additional standing requirements for injunctive relief, i.e., that the plaintiffs provided prior notice or an opportunity to remediate alleged violations and allege an intent to patronize the businesses in the future.

The AG argues that the various Plaintiffs in these consolidated actions should not be given leave to amend such deficiencies in the pleadings, due to a “documented history of bad faith, abusive tactics, and dilatory motives.”   To support this assertion, the AG notes that plaintiffs have filed over 1,700 deficient complaints in 2016, and have “extracted” about $1.2 million from those lawsuits.  The AG also contends that the plaintiffs’ proposed “Universal Amended Complaint” still fails to adequately plead standing, further demonstrating undue delay.  It also, perhaps, demonstrates futility of amendment under these circumstances.

These, first-of-their-kind, cross actions between an enforcement agency and a serial plaintiff may continue to provide additional data and insight into assertions of lawsuit abuse in the disability access context.   We will continue to monitor these actions and keep posting on developments.

Edited by Kristina Launey and Minh Vu.

Seyfarth Synopsis:  The number of access lawsuits has surged in both Arizona state and federal courts, prompting an unprecedented intervention by the Arizona Attorney General.

By our count, nearly 300 ADA Title III lawsuits have been filed in federal court in Arizona this year to date.  This number represents a dramatic increase from 2015 when only 207 lawsuits were filed for the entire year.  In 2013 and 2014, there were only 20 and 8 of such lawsuits, respectively.

Four plaintiffs filed 284 of these nearly 300 2016 Arizona federal court lawsuits:  Damien Mosley (132 suits), Advocates for Individuals with Disabilities Foundation, Inc. (AIDF) (57 suits); Advocates for Individuals with Disabilities LLC (AID) (formerly known as Advocates for American Disabled Individuals, LLC (AADI)) (71 suits); and Santiago Abreau (24 suits).

Even more astonishing is the number of cases AIDF and AID/AADI have filed in Arizona state court under the Arizonians with Disabilities Act (AzADA) since January 2015.  The AzADA is similar to the federal ADA but allows plaintiffs to recover compensatory damages.  Under the ADA, prevailing private plaintiffs can only obtain injunctive relief and attorneys’ fees and costs.

The number of lawsuits filed by AIDF, AID, and AADI in Arizona state court (all in Maricopa County) in 2015 and 2016, according to our own research, are:

  • AID/AADI: 503 cases
  • AIDF: 1121 cases

In total, these plaintiffs have filed 1,624 cases since the beginning of 2015.  Compare that to the 584 suits filed in Arizona federal courts since the beginning of 2015.  Then compare that to the data we’ve collected on lawsuits filed in other states and nationwide.

Apparently alarmed by the number of suits flooding the Arizona court system, the Arizona Attorney General has filed a motion asking the Arizona state court in Maricopa County to consolidate all of the pending cases filed by AADI and to allow his intervention to stop what he calls a “systemic abuse of the judicial system.”  The motion provides two grounds for intervention.  First, it states that these lawsuits “imperils the State enforcement regime established by the Legislature” by signaling to other plaintiffs that it is more profitable to file these private suits than to utilize the state’s investigation and enforcement regime created by the AzADA which provides opportunities for a pre-litigation resolution.  Second, the State of Arizona has a strong interest in how the courts apply and interpret the AzADA’s statutory scheme.

Though outcry over the years over ADA lawsuit abuse has been consistent, as well as multiple legislative attempts at reform with little meaningful effect, we are not aware of any other instance when an enforcement agency has stepped in to address the actions of a serial plaintiff.  We will keep you updated on the developments.

Edited by Kristina Launey.

By John W. Egan and Minh N. Vu

Seyfarth Synopsis: Under a new Consent Decree with the DOJ, 24 Arizona eye surgery centers can no longer require patients with mobility disabilities to pay for third-party services to transfer them on and off operating tables, must pay $1M in damages and penalties, and implement comprehensive ADA policies and training.   

We predicted that the DOJ would get more aggressive in enforcing Title III of the ADA during the Biden Administration and we were right. On the heels of a comprehensive Consent Decree with UC Berkeley comes a Consent Decree involving 24 eye surgery centers in Arizona. 

The Consent Decree concluded a lawsuit the DOJ filed in the U.S. District Court of Arizona against the medical practice operating these eye surgery centers, as well as the organization that provided management, infrastructure, and technology services to that practice, as well as other partner practices. The lawsuit alleged that the eye centers refused to provide transfer assistance to patients who needed such assistance to get onto tables for surgery, and instead required them to pay a medical transportation provider to transport them from their homes in gurneys or stretchers and place them on the surgical table.  The DOJ alleged that the defendants had “sometimes” assisted patients, but in 2017 began requiring surgical patients with mobility disabilities who could not bear their own weight to pay for their own assistance.  The agency took the position that this was an unlawful surcharge under the ADA, as well as a violation of the obligation to provide reasonable modifications to normal policies, practices, and procedures, free of charge.

Last week, the DOJ and defendants agreed to a 22-page Consent Decree under which defendants would not only stop requiring patients with mobility disabilities to assume transfer-related costs, but also pay $1 million in damages and penalties, including establishing (and publicizing) a claims fund for aggrieved individuals, and implementing ADA policies and staff training. Here are the key aspects of the Consent Decree:

  1. “Interactive Process” Required For Providing Transfer Assistance.  Defendants and partner practices will engage in an “interactive process” with patients in need of transfer assistance when scheduling surgical appointments, which must include consideration of patient preferences and an individualized assessment of patient needs to determine transfer assistance options.  Defendants will provide and pay for transfer options that may consist of in-house staff assistance, equipment to provide transfer assistance, or third-party transportation services.
  2. Policy Requirements.  Defendants and partner practices will implement a transfer assistance policy that includes, among other things, a process for conducting individualized assessments for transfer assistance requests, acquiring transfer equipment, training of personnel to provide this assistance, and resolution of related patient disputes.  Defendants will also adopt and post a non-discrimination policy on their websites, as well as in employee handbooks and patient materials.  
  3. Staff Training.  Defendants and partner practices will provide annual training on ADA Title III requirements for facility accessibility, interacting with individuals with disabilities, and techniques for safely transferring individuals with disabilities to and from medical equipment, examination tables, and surgical tables.     
  4. Claims Fund, Damages, and Civil Penalty.  Defendants will deposit a sum of $725,000 into an independently-administered claims fund for aggrieved persons and pay for the administration of the fund.  The fund is to be distributed, in its entirety, to patients and prospective patients who, since 2017, were advised that they needed to pay for third-party medical personnel to transport them to surgical appointments.  Additionally, defendants will pay compensatory damages in the amount of $225,000 to specific individuals to be identified by the DOJ, as well as a civil penalty of $50,000 to the United States Treasury.
  5. Settlement Notice.  Defendants will notify patients eligible for compensation by U.S. Mail and e-mail monthly for one year.  Notice will also be provided on defendants’ websites, and this posting must conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Version 2.0, Level AA.  Additionally, once a month for at least 6 months, defendants will “post, pin, and maintain a tweet” on their Twitter accounts publicizing the Notice, and do the same on their Instagram and Facebook pages.    

*           *           *

The DOJ’s position is generally consistent with its previous guidance entitled Access to Medical Care for Individuals with Mobility Disabilities issued in July 2010.  In response to FAQs addressing accessible services and facilities at doctors’ offices, clinics, and other health care providers, the guidance states that medical personnel must provide “reasonable assistance” to enable individuals with mobility disabilities to receive medical care, which may include providing aid, through trained personnel and potentially with the assistance of lifts or other medical equipment, to facilitate the transfer in and out of mobility devices as necessary to receive treatment and care.  

The DOJ’ s position that the ADA requires health care providers to provide transfer assistance in health care settings raises a thorny question for health care providers with limited staff who neither have the training nor physical strength to provide such assistance.  Does a dental practice with one dentist, a receptionist and a dental assistant need to hire additional staff to provide transfer assistance, for example?  The ADA and its implementing regulations state that public accommodations do not have to modify a policy, practice, or procedure that “fundamentally alters” a public accommodation’s services or facilities, but this defense has not been tested in the context of transfer assistance in the health care setting.  The defendants in this case elected not to test this defense.  Had they done so, the analysis would have been fact intensive and would have required an analysis of their operations, the types of patient assistance they already provide, the nature of the services provided, and other factors. 

Medical providers of all sizes should take note, evaluate their own protocols for handling transfer requests, and consult with knowledgeable counsel as to the ADA compliance considerations that these issues raise.  

Edited by Kristina Launey

By Minh Vu, Kristina Launey and Susan Ryan

Seyfarth Synopsis:  The ADA Title III federal lawsuit numbers in 2019 topped 11,000 for another all-time record.

Plaintiffs filed at least 11,053 ADA Title III lawsuits in federal court in 2019 — 890 (or 8.8%) more than in 2018. This is the highest number since we started tracking these lawsuits in 2013, when there were only 2,722 such lawsuits.  These numbers include Title III lawsuits filed on all grounds — physical facilities, websites and mobile applications, service animals, sign language interpreters, and more.  These numbers do not include the significant number of disability access lawsuits filed in state courts which are much more difficult to accurately track.

[Graph: Total Number of ADA Title III Federal Lawsuits Filed Each Year January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2019: 2013: 2,722; 2014: 4,436, 63% Increase over 2013; 2015: 4,789, 8% Increase over 2014; 2016: 6,601, 38% Increase over 2015; 2017: 7,663, 16% Increase over 2016; 2018: 10,163, 33% Increase over 2017; 2019: 11,053, 9% Increase over 2018]

California, New York, and Florida continued to lead the country with the highest number of lawsuits by a long shot, with 4,794, 2,635, and 1,885 lawsuits, respectively.  These three states saw 84% of all the ADA Title III lawsuits nationwide, with California and New York each breaking their own records for the number of ADA Title III lawsuits, as shown in the graph below.

[Graph: California, New York, and Florida ADA Title III Lawsuits in Federal Court (2013-2019): 2013: CA 995, FL 816, NY 125; 2014: CA 1,866, FL 1,553, NY 212; 2015: CA 1,659, FL 1,338, NY 366; 2016: CA 2,468, FL 1,663, NY 543; 2017: CA 2,751, FL 1,488, NY 1,023; 2018: CA 4,249, FL 1,941, NY 2,338; 2019: CA 4,794, FL 1,885, NY 2,635]

Georgia, Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado, and Alabama also made the top ten but trailed very far behind with Georgia leading the second pack with 243 lawsuits.  Arizona fell out of the top ten with a dramatic decrease in lawsuit numbers (94 in 2018 to 13 in 2019), replaced by Illinois which had 190 lawsuits in 2019 — a 171% increase over 2018.

Businesses in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Vermont continued to be ADA Title III lawsuit-free for the third consecutive year (2017-2019).

[Graph: Top 10 States for ADA Title III Federal Lawsuits 2018 Compared to 2019; CA 2018: 4,249, 2019: 4,794; NY 2018: 2,338, 2019: 2,635; FL 2018: 1,941, 2019: 1,885; GA 2018: 160, 2019: 243; TX 2018: 196, 2019: 239; PA 2018: 129, 2019: 193; IL 2018: 70, 2019: 190; NJ 2018: 70, 2019: 95; CO 2018: 75, 2019: 81, AL 2018: 70, 2019: 79]

For the lawsuit trends in 2019 that drove these numbers, see our year end roundup post.

A note on our methodology: Our research involved a painstaking manual process of going through all federal cases that were coded as “ADA-Other” and manually culling out the ADA Title II cases in which the defendants are state and local governments.  The manual process means there is the small possibility of human error.

By John W. Egan

Seyfarth Synopsis: 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.  Judges have disciplined attorneys for filing indiscriminate claims without a sufficient basis, state attorneys general have stepped in to curb high volume filers of these cases, and members of Congress have urged DOJ to resolve regulatory uncertainty that has sent the number of website accessibility claims soaring to new heights.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of requirements for physical accessibility with which businesses must comply.  Unlike local building code enforcement, non-compliance with ADA design standards is not simply redressed by a fine.  Violation of these standards can give rise to a lawsuit in which a prevailing plaintiff can recover reasonable attorneys’ fees under the ADA’s fee-shifting provisions and, in some jurisdictions, an award of damages under state and municipal disability access laws.

In addition to fending off an increasing barrage of ADA lawsuits, businesses face the prospect of expending even more resources when the other side resists settlement in favor of litigation.  A New York federal judge recently issued a decision criticizing a plaintiffs-side ADA firm that reportedly had no interest in settling an ADA case, even where the businesses were willing to remediate (and did remediate) ADA violations identified in the Complaint.

In Range v. 535 Broadway Group, LLC, Plaintiff asserted ADA, state and city law claims against a clothing store that occupied two stories in a multi-story, mixed use Manhattan building.  While the case was pending, Defendant remediated nearly all alleged barriers and attempted, unsuccessfully, to obtain a settlement demand from Plaintiff.  The court ultimately dismissed the ADA claim, and heavily criticized Plaintiff’s firm in doing so in its opinion.

The court stated that the firm was “impeding the progress of the case” by refusing to provide a global settlement demand and expressing “little interest” in resolving claims over barriers that Defendant had already remediated.  The court cited other reported decisions critical of the firm’s “litigation gamesmanship,” which was reportedly part of its “repertoire” in ADA cases.

After reviewing Defendant’s motion for dismissal based on the pleadings, Plaintiff’s firm requested to amend the Complaint to withdraw the federal claim and assert only state and city law claims for damages.  The court “rejected . . . . that maneuver as a thinly veiled attempt . . . to forum shop and seek a do-over in state court.”  Plaintiff then opposed dismissal of the very same ADA claim he previously agreed to withdraw, and advanced an interpretation of the applicable regulation relating to accessible route requirements for multi-story buildings that was, the court noted, inconsistent with his attorney’s position in another case in the same jurisdiction.  The court went so far as to describe the argument as one Plaintiff’s attorneys “kn[ew] is a loser.”

According to the court, “[s]uch freewheeling advocacy is of no use to a judge, . . . flirts with violating Rule 11 . . . .[,]” and “waste’s everyone’s time.”  The court dismissed the ADA claim, but exercised supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s New York City Human Rights Law claim, which the court held could not be dismissed on a motion for judgment on the pleadings.

Businesses are defending a record number of ADA lawsuits annually.  As a remedial statute that awards attorneys’ fees to a prevailing plaintiff, businesses are often incentivized to reach a settlement before expending significant resources in litigation.  The emergence of plaintiffs-side attorneys interested in pursuing protracted litigation, despite a business’s interest in an early resolution, represents an additional concern for businesses seeking to limit their exposure from predatory ADA lawsuits.

Edited by Minh N. Vu

The number of ADA Title III lawsuits filed in federal court in 2018 hit a record high of 10,163 – up 34% from 2017 when the number was a mere 7,663.  This is by far the highest number of annual filings since we started tracking these numbers in 2013, when the number of federal filings was only 2,722.  In other words, the number of cases has more than tripled.  The chart below shows the explosion in these types of suits:

[Graph: ADA Title III Lawsuits in Federal Court: 2013-2018: 2013: 2722; 2014: 4436, 63% increase over 2013; 2015: 4789, 8% increase over 2014; 2016: 6601, 37% increase over 2015; 2017: 7663, 16% increase over 2016; 2018: 10163, 33% increase over 2017]
California, New York, and Florida led the pack by a wide margin as the states with the most ADA Title III lawsuits, with Texas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Alabama making the top ten but trailing far behind.  Nevada, Colorado, and Utah fell out of the top ten in 2018, displaced by newcomers Alabama, Arizona, and Massachusetts.  No ADA Title III lawsuits were filed in Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming.

[Graph: Top 10 States for ADA Title III Federal Lawsuits in 2018: CA 4249, NY 2338, FL 1941, TX 196, GA 160, PA 129, AZ 94, MA 91, NJ 82, AL 80.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Graph: Top 10 States for ADA Title III Federal Lawsuits in 2017: CA 2751, FL 1488, NY 1023, UT 360, NV 276, CO 215, GA 187, PA 182, TX 129, NJ 108.]
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The big news among the top three states is that New York displaced Florida as the second busiest jurisdiction.  Filings in New York more than doubled from 2017 to 2018 (1023 vs. 2338) while the number of cases filed in Florida only increased from 1488 to 1941.  The number of lawsuits filed in California increased by 54% from 2751 in 2017 to 4249 in 2018.  This record-breaking California number does not even include the many state court filings which we do not track.

[Graph: California, New York and Florida ADA Title III Lawsuits in Federal Court: 2013-2018: 2017: CA 2751, 2018: CA 4249, 2017: NY 1023, 2018: NY 2338, 2017: FL 1488, 2018: FL 1941.]
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is driving the ADA Title III lawsuit explosion?  We are still crunching the numbers but we believe there were nearly 2000 federal lawsuits about allegedly inaccessible websites filed in 2018.  There were very few of these cases before 2015.  In addition, plaintiffs and their attorneys branched out into suits about hotel reservations websites in 2018, further driving the numbers.  We also continue to see many lawsuits about physical access barriers.

A note on our methodology: Our research involved a painstaking manual process of going through all federal cases that were coded as “ADA-Other” and manually culling out the ADA Title II cases in which the defendants are state and local governments.  The manual process means there is the small possibility of human error, but we are confident in our process.

Seyfarth Synopsis: Due process, DOJ’s failure to enact regulations, and whether the ADA covers websites arguments dominated the recent Domino’s Ninth Circuit oral argument.

In the increasing morass of varying state and federal district court opinions in website accessibility cases, we will soon have two additional federal appellate decisions to provide more guidance of precedential value to federal trial courts.  Most recently, on October 12, the Ninth Circuit heard the parties’ oral arguments in Robles v. Domino’s Pizza.  On October 4, the Eleventh Circuit heard oral argument in Gil v. Winn-Dixie.  We attended the Robles argument.

Sitting on the Domino’s Ninth Circuit panel were Ninth Circuit Judges Watford and Owens, and Arizona District Court Judge Zipps.  Judges Watford and Owens actively questioned all parties while Judge Zipps only listened.  The judges seemed to be leaning in Robles’ favor, expressing skepticism at many of Domino’s arguments, especially with respect to the main issue on appeal: Whether the court can apply the ADA to websites of public accommodations without regulatory guidance from the Department of Justice (DOJ).  Below is a summary of the key arguments and judges’ comments:

Primary Jurisdiction/Due Process.  The main issue on appeal is whether U.S. District Judge Otero erred in granting Domino’s motion to dismiss the case on primary jurisdiction and due process grounds.  Robles argued that the lack of specific website accessibility regulations does not eliminate the statutory obligation to comply with the ADA, and that Domino’s is not exempted from the ADA and its implementing regulations because DOJ was working on such regulations at one time.  Robles pointed out that DOJ has terminated the rulemaking process since the District Court ruled.  Robles stated that the court does not need the DOJ to rule on this issue – in fact, that the DOJ said in a recent letter (to Congressman Ted Budd) mentioning this very case that it was not going to act.

Frustration with DOJ’ s Inaction.  Not surprisingly, the DOJ continued to come up numerous times during the Domino’s argument.  Judge Watford stated that all “agree it’s a highly undesirable state for the law to be in” and “it’s DOJ that’s mainly at fault – it should have happened a long time ago.”  Domino’s asked whether the Court could certify the question for the DOJ to answer.  Judge Watford did not believe any mechanism to do so existed.  Judge Owens interjected that the DOJ could have intervened, but did not. “This shows the problem with your primary jurisdiction argument. It’s like a Samuel Beckett play – we’re just waiting and it’s not going to happen.”  Isn’t that an inherent due process problem, Domino’s asked?  “The court’s job is to interpret the law as best it can.”  If the Supreme Court doesn’t like it, it doesn’t like it.

Coverage of Websites by the ADA.  The question of whether the ADA covers websites also came up at several points.  Domino’s took the position that the ADA covers the communication on websites, but not the websites themselves – a position that Judge Owens said was contrary to what Domino’s said in District Court.  Judge Watford pointed out that the DOJ has said the ADA covers websites on numerous occasions.  In response, Domino’s said the DOJ’s latest position on this topic was a footnote in the U.S. Solicitor General’s brief filed in the McGee v. Coca Cola case which did not involve a website.  The footnote simply noted district courts have grappled with the question of whether the ADA applies to goods and services offered over the Internet.  Judge Watford said if that footnote is “all you’ve got, you’re on extremely shaky ground… you don’t have much to stand on there.”

What is an accessible website? Domino’s argued, as a possible explanation for DOJ’s inaction: “there is no such thing as an accessible website, and there never will be.” He cited the plaintiff’s expert’s statement in Winn-Dixie, also cited by the Eleventh Circuit judges in that oral argument, that the expert had never seen a website that complies with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).  To illustrate the difficulty businesses face in applying the guidelines, Domino’s posited how detailed the alt-text behind a picture of a basketball needs to be to conform to the guidelines – if it has LeBron James’s autograph on it, for example, does the alt-text need to go to that level of detail, or can it just say “basketball.”  He thinks the regulatory effort was stymied because the DOJ couldn’t “wrap its head around” this.

Judge Watford disagreed, “I don’t think it’s as dire as you painted”.  The Judge added, skeptically, “You want us to just throw our hands up and say this is just impossible, there’s no way to figure this out.  I don’t think that’s correct.”  Judge Watford noted any particulars as to what businesses need to do to have an accessible website can be worked out in the remedy stage.  At various points, counsel for Robles and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), as Amicus, as well as Judge Owens, remarked that the lower court had not decided whether Domino’s website was required to be, and was or was not, accessible – let alone by what standard accessibility should be measured.  Thus, those issues were not before this Court.  Judge Watford asked, since it appears the WCAG is the “only game in town”, “how could compliance with anything else render a website’s content accessible to people with vision disabilities”? (Note that in its oral argument, Winn-Dixie, appealing the district court’s order that the grocer conform its website to the WCAG, argued that such an order constituted “legislating from the bench”, which denies businesses due process.)

Telephonic Access.  At one point, Domino’s counsel stated that that people who could not use the website could call a 1-800 number.  Judge Watford reminded him that banner displaying the number was not on the Domino’s website at the time Robles attempted to access it.  The Judge did not say that the phone number could not provide a lawful alternative to access but said “we can debate whether that would be adequate.”  Amicus Counsel for the NFB expressed skepticism about whether the phone could ever be an adequate substitute, and argued that this was an issue of fact.

The Ninth Circuit will likely issue its order in the next three to twelve months.

Edited by Minh N. Vu.

By Kristina M. Launey, Minh N. Vu, & Susan Ryan

Seyfarth Synopsis:  The number of federal ADA Title III lawsuits continue to surge in 2017, fueled largely by website accessibility claims; while legislative reform efforts continue to mitigate the physical accessibility portion of those lawsuit numbers.

The results of our 2017 ADA Title III lawsuit count are in, putting a fifth consecutive year (since we began tracking in 2013) of growth in the number of ADA Title III lawsuits filed in federal court.  In 2017, 7,663 ADA Title III lawsuits were filed in federal court — 1,062 more than in 2016. While a bit slower growth than in 2016 (which saw an 1,812, or 37% year over year increase) over 2015, this 16% increase is almost double the 2014-2015 8% increase, demonstrating a continued upward trend in the number of filings.

ADA Title III Lawsuits in Federal Court: 2013-2017: 2013 (2722); 2014 (4436, 63% increase over 2013); 2015 (4789, 8% increase over 2014); 2016 (6601, 37% increase over 2015); 2017 (7663, 16% increase over 2016)

California and Florida continue to be hotbeds of litigation, with 2,751 and 1,488 lawsuits (up from 2,468 in CA in 2016 and down from 1,663 in FL) respectively. New York is the big story, having almost doubled its 543 lawsuits filed in 2016 to 1023 in 2017.  Utah moved up in the ranks, with a more than doubling of federal lawsuit filings, from 124 to 360. Nevada, not in the top 10 states for filings in 2016, is relatively close behind with 276 lawsuits, while the 2016 holder of the fifth spot, Texas, dropped to number nine, cutting its 267 2016 number down by more than half, to 129.  Arizona, with 335 lawsuit filings in 2016, dropped out of the top 10 in 2017.  Colorado’s numbers also more than doubled, from 92 in 2016 to 215 in 2017; and New Jersey newly entered the top 10 this year with 108 lawsuits.  Georgia, held its sixth spot on the chart, also holding fairly steady at 187 lawsuits, a slight decrease from the 193 filed in 2016.  Finally, Pennsylvania showed relatively modest growth, increasing by 80 lawsuits over its 102 2016 count.  Here are the numbers for the top ten states:

  1. CA: 2751
  2. FL: 1488
  3. NY: 1023
  4. UT: 360
  5. NV: 276
  6. CO: 215
  7. GA: 187
  8. PA: 182
  9. TX: 129
  10. NJ: 108

Top 10 States for ADA Title III Federal Lawsuits in 2016: CA (2751); FL (1488); NY (1023); UT (360); NV (276); CO (215); GA (187); PA (182); TX (129); NJ (108)

Similar to last year, while physical accessibility lawsuits remain common, these numbers continue to be driven largely by the vast numbers of website accessibility lawsuit filings, many by new attorneys in familiar (CA, FL, NY) jurisdictions.  The extreme increase in New York is likely due at least in part to 2017 federal court decisions that have likely embolded plaintiffs’ attorneys in that jurisdiction.  Note that these numbers of course do not include the many demand letters plaintiffs sent to businesses asserting website accessibility claims, do not include lawsuits filed only in state courts, and are conservative estimates, as our research methods are sound in finding at least the numbers we report here, and it is entirely likely we have not captured every ADA Title III filed in federal court.

Meanwhile, Congress has continued legislative efforts to provide business some relief from “drive-by” physical accessibility lawsuits.  The ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017, introduced January 24, 2017 as H.R. 620 by Texas Representative Ted Poe, would, among other things, codify a “notice and cure period” that would prohibit a plaintiff from filing a lawsuit based on failure to remove an architectural barrier unless the plaintiff has first given the businesses notice of the alleged violations and an opportunity to provide a plan to address them.  On October 30, 2017, the House Committee on the Judiciary reported the bill, and it is scheduled for referral to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution and Civil Justice on February 8, 2017.  Some states also continued their own legislative reform efforts, such as Florida HB 727, effective July 1, 2017; and in Nevada the State Attorney General intervened in a federal ADA Title III lawsuit by a serial plaintiff who had filed at least 275 lawsuits seven months.

We will, as always, continue to keep tracking lawsuit filings, legislative efforts, and other breaking developments and keep you up to date — as the Title III trend shows no signs of cooling down in 2018.

Seyfarth Synopsis:  2017 saw an unprecedented number of website accessibility lawsuits filed in federal and state courts, and few courts willing to grant early motions to dismiss.

Plaintiffs were very busy in 2017 filing ADA Title III lawsuits alleging that public accommodations’ websites are not accessible to individuals with disabilities. Here is our brief recap of the 2017 website accessibility lawsuit numbers, major developments, and our thoughts for 2018.

  • In 2017, plaintiffs filed at least 814 federal lawsuits about allegedly inaccessible websites, including a number of putative class actions. We arrived at this number by searching for lawsuits with certain key terms and then manually reviewing the results to remove any cases that did not concern an allegedly inaccessible website.  Our numbers are conservative, as it is very likely that not every website accessibility lawsuit’s description – upon which we based our search – contained our search terms. This caveat applies to all of the data set forth below.
  • Of the 814 federal cases, New York and Florida led the way with more than 335 and 325 cases, respectively. Surprisingly, California only had nine new website accessibility lawsuits in 2017, most likely because plaintiffs filed in state court.  Federal courts in Arizona (6), Georgia (9), Illinois (10), Massachusetts (15), New Hampshire (2), Michigan (1), New Jersey (4), Ohio (8), Pennsylvania (58), Puerto Rico (1), Texas (7), and Virginia (24) also had their share of website accessibility lawsuits.
  • In California state courts, plaintiffs filed at least 115 website accessibility lawsuits in 2017 under the state’s non-discrimination laws. We compiled this data based on searches we performed for lawsuits by four blind plaintiffs represented by two California law firms.
  • In New York state courts, plaintiffs filed at least six website accessibility lawsuits in 2017. All were putative class actions.
  • Defendants in at least 13 federal website accessibility cases filed motions to dismiss or for summary judgment where there were no unusual circumstances like a prior court order or settlement agreement that obligated the defendant to make its website accessible. The courts denied all but two of those motions and let the cases proceed to discovery.
    • In one case where the defendant, Bang & Olfusen, won its motion to dismiss, the court noted that the plaintiff had failed to plead a nexus between the physical place of public accommodation and the website in question. In the other case, the court dismissed the claims made against Domino’s because requiring the defendant to comply with a set of web accessibility guidelines that are not yet law would violate due process principles.  The Domino’s decision is on appeal and will be reviewed by the Ninth Circuit in 2018.  Our post about these cases is here.
    • In the 11 cases where the federal judges refused to dismiss website accessibility claims and allowed the cases proceed to discovery, the defendants had unsuccessfully argued that the principles or due process and the doctrine of primary jurisdiction should be the basis for dismissal. One of our posts discussing some of these decisions is here.
    • In three decisions, the courts were open to the concept that providing telephonic access to the goods and services offered at the public accommodation may satisfy the ADA, but they refused to dismiss the cases at the outset on this basis.
  • The first trial in a website accessibility lawsuit took place in 2017. Florida U.S. District Judge Scola presided over this bench trial and concluded that grocer Winn Dixie had violated Title III of the ADA by having an inaccessible website.  Judge Scola also found that the $250,000 cost to remediate Winn Dixie’s website was not an “undue burden” and ordered Winn Dixie to make its website conform with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 AA (WCAG 2.0 AA).
  • Three defendants were able to dismiss website access lawsuits early because they had already entered into consent decree or settlement agreements with previous plaintiffs which required them to make their websites conform to the WCAG 2.0 within a specified amount of time. That said, not all courts agree that a prior settlement — as opposed to a binding judgment or court order — can be the basis for a dismissal.
  • The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) rulemaking to create new website accessibility regulations is now officially dead, as we recently blogged. The lack of clear rules will lead to more litigation and inconsistent judicially-made law.  In fact, it appears that the DOJ will not be issuing any new regulations under Title III of the ADA about any subject, according to the agency’s December 26 announcement in the Federal Register repealing all pending ADA Title III rulemakings.

What’s in store for 2018? If the Ninth Circuit upholds the Domino’s district court’s dismissal on due process grounds, the number of California website accessibility lawsuits in federal court may go down dramatically.  Even if that occurs, we see no end to the website accessibility lawsuit surge elsewhere and expect that new plaintiffs’ firms will continue to enter the scene.  While the current administration’s DOJ is not likely to push the website accessibility agenda, its inaction will not stop the lawsuits.  Only an amendment to the ADA can do that, which we believe is highly unlikely.  Thus, the best risk mitigation effort for covered entities is still to make their websites accessible as soon as possible, with the assistance of ADA Title III legal counsel experienced in website accessibility issues and reputable digital accessibility consultants.

Edited by Kristina Launey