By Lotus Cannon and Minh Vu

Seyfarth synopsis:  Leading the country with 3,173 federal ADA Title III lawsuits in 2022, plaintiff-friendly court decisions will likely keep New York in the top spot.

It is no surprise that New York has become the nation’s leader in ADA Title III and website accessibility litigation, bypassing California by a substantial margin in

Continue Reading New York Continues to Be a Friendly Venue for ADA Title III Plaintiffs

By Minh VuKristina Launey and Susan Ryan

Seyfarth Synopsis: The number of ADA Title III lawsuits filed in federal court dropped by 24 percent, the lowest since 2017, and California is no longer the epicenter.

ADA Title III case filings in federal court had been on a sharp upward trajectory since we started compiling these statistics in 2013.

Continue Reading ADA Title III Federal Lawsuits Numbers Are Down But Likely To Rebound in 2023

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

Continue Reading Eye Surgery Centers to Pay $1M in Damages and Penalties to Resolve Alleged ADA Violations

By 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 2022

Seyfarth Synopsis:  We predict another busy year on all fronts as DOJ continues to push its regulatory and enforcement agenda.

Photo showing hand holding a crystal ball

Lawsuit Numbers.  Last January, we predicted that roughly the same number of ADA Title III lawsuits would be filed in federal court in 2022 as in 2021, but halfway through 2022 it

Continue Reading ADA Title III Crystal Ball:  What’s Ahead for 2023?

By Kristina Launey and Julia Sarnoff

Seyfarth Synopsis:  The Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Justice recently issued Guidance for telehealth accessibility with specific examples.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many health care providers and patients turned to telehealth as a way to provide and receive health care services while in lockdown.  Telehealth allows providers to see
Continue Reading Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Justice Issue Joint Guidance On Accessible Telehealth Services

By Minh N. Vu

Seyfarth synopsis:  We predict 2022 will look a lot like 2021 with roughly the same number of lawsuits and DOJ pushing the boundaries of the ADA.

Like 2020, 2021 was a tough year for businesses.  Still dealing with the constantly-changing COVID-19 landscape, businesses were also bombarded with what may be another record number of ADA Title
Continue Reading Crystal Ball 2022: More Aggressive DOJ Enforcement, More Lawsuits, and Maybe a New Rulemaking.

By Minh N. Vu

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Biden DOJ Civil Rights Division has been much more active than its predecessor in enforcing Title III of the ADA and supporting plaintiffs in pending litigation.

As we predicted in January, the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Biden Administration has been very busy.  In the nine months
Continue Reading Biden Department of Justice Steps up ADA Title III Enforcement

By Minh Vu, Kristina Launey, Susan Ryan

Seyfarth Synopsis: ADA Title III lawsuit filings in federal courts on pace for a record year.

Regular readers will doubtless recall that 2020 was a down year (but just barely) for lawsuits filed in federal court alleging violations of Title III of the ADA.  Our mid-year total was 4,751, due to
Continue Reading ADA Title III Federal Mid-Year Lawsuit Numbers at an All-Time High

By: John W. Egan

Seyfarth Synopsis: In navigating the contentious issue of COVID-19 passports, businesses need to be aware of their obligations to make reasonable modifications to their policies, practices and procedures applicable to patrons with disabilities.

New York City recently announced that it would require COVID-19 vaccination passports for many indoor activities. Conversely, some jurisdictions such as Florida and
Continue Reading Businesses Face Uncertain Landscape in Navigating COVID-19 Vaccination Passports for Customers