By John W. Egan, Dov Kesselman, and Ashley S. Jenkins
A recent “Dear Colleague” letter issued jointly by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Education (OCR) places colleges and universities on notice of recent enforcement activities under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section
Continue Reading OCR and DOJ Send A Message to Higher Ed: Make Your Websites AccessibleBy Kristina M. Launey & Minh N. Vu
Seyfarth Synopsis: Plaintiffs filed 3,225 website accessibility lawsuits in federal court in 2022 – a 12% increase over 2021.
2022 was another record setting year for website accessibility lawsuits filed in federal court. The total number of lawsuits filed in federal court alleging that plaintiffs with a disability could not use websites
Continue Reading Plaintiffs Set a New Record for Website Accessibility Lawsuit Filings in 2022Seyfarth Synopsis: The Ninth Circuit holds that the ADA does not require a 36 inch length of clear sales counter space when the entire counter provided for all customers is at an accessible height.
When a business provides only one sales counter for all customers to use and that entire counter is at an accessible height of 36 inches or
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Rejects Serial Plaintiffs’ Lawsuits About the ADA’s Accessible Sales Counter Requirements
By Minh N. Vu and Kristina M. Launey
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
Continue Reading Domino’s Files Petition for US Supreme Court Review of Unfavorable Website Access Decision
By: Kristina M. Launey and Samuel Sverdlov
Seyfarth Synopsis: A SDNY judge dismissed a website accessibility lawsuit finding that the company mooted the allegations in the complaint by remediating the accessibility barriers and that the Court lacked personal jurisdiction since the company does not transact business in New York.
New York federal courts are a hotbed for ADA Title III
Continue Reading SDNY Dismisses Website Accessibility Lawsuit Based on Mootness and Lack of Personal Jurisdiction
Seyfarth Synopsis: DOJ provides guidance on sales/service counter rules in the 2010 Standards that provides some relief to businesses.
Retailers and other businesses should be pleased with the DOJ’s pronouncement on February 25, 2019, that they can lawfully provide sales/service counter space that is less than 36” long, as long as the entire space is at an accessible height of
Continue Reading Justice Department: Businesses Can Provide Less Than 36″ Of Clear Sales/Service Counter Space If Counter Is At An Accessible Height
Seyfarth Synopsis: DOJ’s response to members of Congress about the explosion in website accessibility lawsuits contains some helpful guidance for public accommodations fighting these claims.
As we reported in June, 103 members of the House of Representatives from both parties asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to “state publicly that private legal action under the ADA with respect to websites is
Continue Reading DOJ Says Failure to Comply With Web Accessibility Guidelines is Not Necessarily a Violation of the ADA
Seyfarth Synopsis: Plaintiffs secure a second judgment in a federal website accessibility lawsuit while most of the others successfully fended off motions to dismiss.
2018 has been a bad year for most businesses that have chosen to fight website accessibility cases filed under Title III of the ADA. Plaintiffs filing in federal court secured their second judgment on the merits
Continue Reading Defendants Fighting Website Accessibility Cases Face An Uphill Battle In 2018
Seyfarth Synopsis: California will soon have a new law requiring WCAG 2.0 AA compliance for state agencies’ websites by 2019.
On October 14, 2017 California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law AB 434, which will create a new Government Code section 11546.7 and require, beginning July 1, 2019, state agencies and state entities to post on their website home
Continue Reading California Passes Website Accessibility Requirements Applicable to State Agencies
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an apparent effort to stop one plaintiff’s lawsuit spree, the Nevada Attorney General moves to intervene in a federal ADA Title III lawsuit arguing that the plaintiff failed to provide notice to the state agency responsible for enforcing Nevada’s antidiscrimination law before filing suit.
On Wednesday, August 9, the Nevada Attorney General filed a motion to intervene
Continue Reading Nevada Attorney General Takes Dramatic Action to Stop Serial Plaintiff’s ADA Title III Lawsuits