Lawsuit

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Seyfarth Synopsis: Florida court rules that plaintiff must allege more than being unable to learn about a brick-and-mortar business to state a claim that an allegedly inaccessible website violates the ADA. 

Allegations that an inaccessible website prevents a blind plaintiff from “learning” about a brick-and-mortar location are insufficient to state an ADA claim, according to one recent federal court…
Continue Reading Florida Court Dismisses Website Accessibility Case, Clarifying “Nexus” Requirement For Stating A Claim Under The ADA

Seyfarth Synopsis: Trump Administration’s first Unified Agenda reveals DOJ has placed web accessibility, medical equipment, and furniture rulemakings under Title II and III of the ADA on Inactive List.

Federal agencies typically provide public notice of the regulations that are under development twice a year in the Unified Regulatory Agenda. The first Agenda the Trump Administration issued, which went…
Continue Reading DOJ Places Website Rulemaking on the “Inactive” List

Seyfarth Synopsis:  Utah businesses are experiencing an unprecedented number of ADA Title III lawsuits.

Utah used to be a good place for public accommodations that did not want to be sued for ADA Title III violations.  In 2013, 2014, and 2015 combined, plaintiffs only filed a total of eight such lawsuits in federal court (1, 6, and 1, respectively). …
Continue Reading Utah Is a New Hotbed of ADA Title III Federal Suits

The increase of ADA Title III lawsuits in federal court shows no signs of stopping.  From January 1 through April 30, 2017, 2629 lawsuits were filed — 412 more than during the same period in 2016.  That’s a whopping 18 percent increase.  As we previously reported, the total number of lawsuits filed in federal court in 2016 was 6,601…
Continue Reading 2017 Federal ADA Title III Lawsuit Numbers 18% Higher than 2016

Seyfarth Synopsis: Two recent decisions by federal judges to dismiss website accessibility lawsuits may cause more public accommodations to fight instead of settle these suits, but businesses must continue to weigh many factors before making that decision.

The litigation tide might be turning for public accommodations choosing to fight lawsuits brought by blind individuals claiming that the businesses’ websites…
Continue Reading Public Accommodations are Starting to Win Website Accessibility Lawsuits

Seyfarth Synopsis: New website and mobile app accessibility settlement agreement requires WCAG 2.0 AA conformance, training, and feedback mechanism.

Being named one of the most innovative companies of 2016 doesn’t make one immune from a website and mobile app accessibility lawsuit.  Capping 2016’s banner accessibility lawsuit count, including record website accessibility lawsuit numbers, on which we reported yesterday, was an…
Continue Reading Innovative Salad Restaurant Agrees to Make Website and Mobile App Accessible

Seyfarth Synopsis: In yet another effort to reduce ADA lawsuits, California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed into law – effective immediately – legislation to encourage tenants and landlords to acknowledge and address any accessibility issues during lease negotiations.

On September 16, 2016, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 2093 – the second new disability access reform law…
Continue Reading New CA Law Requires Disclosing Known ADA Violations During Lease Negotiations

iStock_000018867002_LargeOh, the irony.  Our federal government is filing lawsuits against private businesses and universities for having allegedly inaccessible websites and mobile apps when its own agencies have inaccessible websites.  In April 2014, we reported that the American Council of the Blind (ACB) and three blind federal contractors sued the General Services Administration , alleging GSA’s own website, SAM.gov, is inaccessible…
Continue Reading U.S. General Services Administration Settles Suit Alleging Inaccessibility of Its Website for Contractors

iStock_000000578266_LargeThe Department of Justice (DOJ) announced today that it filed a lawsuit against the Gates-Chili Central School District in New York because it refused to have its teachers help a kindergarten student with epilepsy and other disabilities manage her service dog. According to the complaint, the young student was non-verbal and could not give the service dog required commands. The…
Continue Reading Justice Department Sues Public School For Refusing to Manage Student’s Service Dog

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