By Kristina M. Launey & Minh N. Vu

We’ve sheltered in place and finished our tally.  The numbers are in for total website accessibility lawsuit filings in federal courts in 2019, they show a small decrease from 2018. The total number of website accessibility lawsuits filed in federal court (i.e. lawsuits alleging that plaintiffs with a disability could not…
Continue Reading The Curve Has Flattened for Federal Website Accessibility Lawsuits

By Kristina M. Launey and Minh N. Vu

Seyfarth Synopsis: Website accessibility lawsuit filings in federal court in 2019 are on track to exceed 2018.  Will we see an increase in filings as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision not to review the Ninth Circuit’s Order in Robles v. Domino’s?

As of June 30, 2019, we counted 1204 website…
Continue Reading Federal Website Access Lawsuit Numbers Increase 7 Percent in 2019, With Possible Bump from Supreme Court Denial of Cert in Domino’s

By Minh N. Vu

Seyfarth Synopsis:  The Supreme Court Leaves the Ninth Circuit’s Robles v. Domino’s decision intact, dashing businesses’ hope for some relief from website accessibility lawsuits.

The Supreme Court today issued its much anticipated decision on Domino’s  Pizza’s Petition for Certiorari in the Robles v. Domino’s website accessibility case, and it is not good news for businesses.  The…
Continue Reading Supreme Court Declines to Review Ninth Circuit Decision in Robles v. Domino’s, Exposing Businesses to More Website Accessibility Lawsuits

By Minh N. Vu, Julia Sarnoff, Kristina Launey

Seyfarth synopsis: California Court of Appeal affirms ruling that inaccessible restaurant website violated the Unruh Act and orders that restaurant website comply with WCAG 2.0 Level AA.

Before September 3, 2019, there were four substantive California state trial court decisions in website accessibility cases, and the verdict score was tied…
Continue Reading California Court Of Appeal’s Midvale Decision Opens The Floodgates For More Website Accessibility Lawsuits

By Minh N. Vu

Seyfarth Synopsis:  The Supreme Court will decide whether to hear its first website accessibility case now that briefing on Domino’s Petition for Certiorari is complete.

Earlier today, Plaintiff Guillermo Robles filed his opposition to Domino’s request to the U.S. Supreme Court for review of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision to let Robles’s lawsuit against…
Continue Reading Plaintiff Robles Files His Opposition To Domino’s Petition For Certiorari

By Minh N. Vu

Seyfarth Synopsis:  Courts in the Fourth Circuit are taking a hard look at a plaintiffs’ standing in website accessibility cases.

In a small but potentially important victory for defendants facing website accessibility lawsuits, the Fourth Circuit has issued two decisions upholding dismissal of lawsuits for lack of standing with a well-reasoned analysis that can be applied…
Continue Reading Fourth Circuit Says Inability to Get Information From Website, Without More, Is Not Enough to Establish Standing to Sue

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

By John W. Egan and Minh N. Vu

Seyfarth Synopsis: A Committee in the New York State Senate aims to develop a legal standard for the accessibility of business websites under New York law, in response to the exponential increase in website accessibility litigation in the state. Whether state legislation could stem this tide, or instead make matters worse for …
Continue Reading New York Lawmakers Plan To Address Website Accessibility

Seyfarth Synopsis:  Domino’s Likely to File Petition for Certiorari from Ninth Circuit’s Ruling in Robles v. Domino’s.

As we reported, the Ninth Circuit held in January that a blind plaintiff could move forward with his ADA Title III lawsuit against Domino’s Pizza for having an allegedly inaccessible website and mobile app.  The court determined that allowing the claim to…
Continue Reading Domino’s To Ask Supreme Court To Consider Whether ADA Website/Mobile App Accessibility Lawsuits Violate Due Process

As we had predicted, the number of website accessibility lawsuits (i.e. lawsuits alleging that plaintiffs with a disability could not use websites because they were not coded to work with assistive technologies like screen readers, or otherwise accessible to them) filed in federal court under Title III of the ADA exploded in 2018 to at least 2258 – increasing…
Continue Reading Number Of Federal Website Accessibility Lawsuits Nearly Triple, Exceeding 2250 In 2018