Failure to Provide an Accessible Alternative Is Not Intentional Discrimination Sufficient to Establish an ADA-Independent Unruh Act Claim
By Kristina M. Launey and Minh N. Vu
On April 1, 2015, the Ninth Circuit became the first federal appellate court in the country to hold that web-only businesses are not places of public accommodation under the ADA.
As we previously reported
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Rules Website Must Have Nexus to a Physical Place of Business for ADA to Apply
By Kristina M. Launey and Minh N. Vu
Although no federal appellate court has decided the issue, district courts are continuing to take sides in the debate over whether web-only businesses are subject to Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For those of you keeping score, California leads the way, with multiple decisions from its district courts
Continue Reading Federal District Court in Vermont Finds Web-Only Businesses Are Places of Public Accommodation Under Title III of the ADA
On Monday, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) announced a settlement agreement between it and VUDU, Inc., a wholly owned streaming entertainment subsidiary of Walmart, in which VUDU has agreed to caption 100% of movies and television programs streamed online through VUDU’s Video on Demand Service. NAD is a non-profit civil rights advocacy group
Continue Reading VUDU Agrees to Caption or Subtitle All Online Streaming Video Content in Settlement With NAD
By Minh N. Vu
Serial ADA Title III lawsuit filer Howard Cohan made local television news last week in a story CBS Action News 47 reported after Mr. Cohan filed 24 new lawsuits against various north Florida hotels. Seyfarth Shaw’s Title III Team has handled a number of cases filed by Mr. Cohan. Our search of the federal court docket
Continue Reading Serial ADA Plaintiff Makes Florida News
On January 22, Seyfarth Shaw’s class action experts are presenting a webinar to discuss highlights from Seyfarth’s 11th Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report. While the Report primarily covers class actions in the employment context, many of the rules, strategies, and tactics are equally applicable and employed in ADA Title III class litigation, as demonstrated by the Report’s inclusion
Continue Reading Seyfarth Workplace Class Action Team To Present Webinar on 2014 Class Action Developments and What Lies Ahead
By Minh N. Vu and Paul H. Kehoe
The Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday announced a settlement [here and here] with Peapod, the country’s leading internet grocery retailer and delivery service, concerning its website and mobile application. The agreement exemplifies the DOJ’s continued focus on requiring public accommodations to ensure that their websites are accessible to individuals with
Continue Reading Justice Department Enters Into Another Website Accessibility Agreement
By Craig B. Simonsen and Kristina M. Launey
This blog, as the “ADA Title III” name indicates, is primarily about a business’s obligation to individuals with disabilities who may access its goods, services, benefits, and accommodations, rather than employees with disabilities. However, we also frequently receive questions from entities that are subject to Title III about their obligations to provide
Continue Reading Office of Disability Employment Policy Publishes Web Portal on Accessible Workplace Technology
Review of Disabled Persons Act Applicability to Websites Withdrawn; California Agency Issues Guidance on CASp Benefits; and Novel New Serial Lawsuits Filed Against Car Dealerships
As we’ve discussed previously, California is a hotbed for disability access suits – both based upon alleged physical accessibility violations of California law and the ADA and based upon alleged inaccessible websites.
Continue Reading California Accessibility Update
The Wall Street Journal last week published two stories about Title III of the ADA after obtaining insights from various sources, including our ADA Title III Team leader, Minh Vu. The story concerning the surge in ADA Title III lawsuits cited to Seyfarth’s labor intensive research which we reported earlier this year. The companion story about the anticipated
Continue Reading Seyfarth's ADA Title III Lawsuit Data and Team Leader Appear in the Wall Street Journal
By Minh N. Vu
They are sprouting up everywhere: Kiosks that allow customers to buy tickets, rent DVDs, get boarding passes, check-in at a hotel, count change, and even rent cars without ever having to interact with a human being. These self-service kiosks can be a boon for customers and businesses, but they also create lawsuit exposure for businesses that fail to consider how they will be used by individuals who are blind or have limited mobility.
Redbox’s recent settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by advocates for the blind highlights this thorny issue and the uncertain legal landscape surrounding self-service equipment designed for customer use. Several blind individuals and an advocacy group sued Redbox because its DVD rental kiosks could not be independently used by non-sighted individuals. After two years of litigation and mediation, the parties entered into a class settlement under which Redbox agreed to take the following steps for all Redbox locations in California:
Redbox also agreed to make certain accessibility improvements to its website but notably did not commit to meeting the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
Continue Reading Accessible Technology: Redbox DVD Rental Kiosk Class Action Settlement Highlights Litigation Risk Presented by Self-Service Equipment
