By Minh N. Vu

Seyfarth Synopsis: SCOTUS grants certiorari on an ADA Title III case for the first time in 18 years to resolve a circuit split on whether an ADA plaintiff has standing to sue without having any intention of frequenting the business.

“Does a self-appointed Americans with Disabilities Act ‘tester’ have Article III standing to challenge a place

Continue Reading SCOTUS Agrees to Resolve A Circuit Split on Tester Standing in ADA Title III Cases

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 Minh N. Vu

Seyfarth Synopsis:  UC Berkeley and the DOJ resolve an 8-year investigation with a comprehensive Consent Decree that requires UC Berkeley to make virtually all the content on its online platforms accessible to people with disabilities within three years and adopt comprehensive policies and procedures to ensure accessible online content.

After eight years, the U.S. Department of

Continue Reading UC Berkeley Enters Into Consent Decree with DOJ About Its Websites and Other Online Content 

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: 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