Seyfarth Synopsis: Plaintiffs continue filing ADA Title III lawsuits in record numbers with no sign of stopping.
As regular readers of this blog know, the number of ADA Title III lawsuits filed in federal court in 2020...more
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....more
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....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Three businesses prevail in website accessibility lawsuits in New York and California. Defending website accessibility lawsuits can be an expensive and difficult battle for public accommodations, but there...more
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...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: California federal trial court grants summary judgment for plaintiff, finding Domino’s violated the ADA by having a website that is inaccessible to the blind and orders Domino’s bring its website into...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: ADA Title III lawsuits filed in 2020 fell slightly from last year’s high, but still topped 10,000 for the second time since we started tracking these lawsuits in 2013....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals adopts a burden-shifting framework for analyzing claims involving the removal of pre-ADA barriers which requires the plaintiff to “plausibly show how the cost of removing...more
Seyfarth synopsis: Businesses enjoyed a brief reprieve in ADA Title III lawsuits while the country was shut down but the rest of the year will most likely be business as usual....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a first-in-the-nation decision, Judge Gregory Woods of the Southern District of New York ruled that Title III does not require public accommodations to manufacture or sell Braille gift cards....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The ADA Title III federal lawsuit numbers in 2019 topped 11,000 for another all-time record.
Plaintiffs filed at least 11,053 ADA Title III lawsuits in federal court in 2019 — 890 (or 8.8%) more than in...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Purveyors of porn are being sued for offering online videos without closed captioning....more
1/22/2020
/ Adult Entertainment ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Closed Captioning ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Hearing-Impaired ,
Movies ,
Pornography ,
Public Accommodation ,
Title III ,
Website Accessibility ,
Websites
Seyfarth synopsis: ADA Title III lawsuits flooded federal courts in 2019 and will likely continue to do so in 2020 with new theories for the courts to consider. ...more
1/7/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Dominos ,
Gift-Cards ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Mobile Apps ,
Permanent Impairments ,
Public Accommodation ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Retail Market ,
Retailers ,
Title III ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
Seyfarth Synopsis: Enterprising plaintiffs in New York are suing more than 100 businesses under a new theory – – that ADA Title III requires Braille gift cards....more
11/5/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Article III ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Gift-Cards ,
Permanent Impairments ,
Public Accommodation ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Retail Market
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...more
11/4/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Dominos ,
Mobile Apps ,
Public Accommodation ,
Regulatory Standards ,
SCOTUS ,
Title III ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
Seyfarth Synopsis: Plaintiffs secure a second judgment in a federal website accessibility lawsuit while most of the others successfully fended off motions to dismiss. ...more
9/20/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Public Accommodation ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title III ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
Seyfarth Synopsis: The number of federal ADA Title III lawsuits continue to surge in 2017, fueled largely by website accessibility claims; while legislative reform efforts continue to mitigate the physical accessibility...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Justice Department withdraws pending rulemakings for accessible websites, furniture and non-fixed equipment.The current Department of Justice’s (DOJ) regulatory approach to Title III of the ADA is yet...more
12/22/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deregulation ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Public Accommodation ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Title III ,
Trump Administration ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
Seyfarth Synopsis: In denying Dave & Buster’s motion to dismiss and for summary judgment, a federal judge said that telephonic access might be an alternative to having an accessible website, but cannot decide until the...more
10/18/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dave & Buster's ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Franchises ,
Internet ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Public Accommodation ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Summary Judgment ,
Telecommunications ,
Title III ,
Website Accessibility ,
Websites
Seyfarth Synopsis: Two New York federal judges recently said that the ADA covers websites (even those not connected to a physical place) and one held that working on improving the accessibility of one’s website does not make...more
8/8/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Grocery Stores ,
Hobby Lobby ,
Public Accommodation ,
Rewards Programs ,
Title III ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites ,
Winn-Dixie Stores
Seyfarth Synopsis: In amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Justice Department agreed with the Fifth Circuit and defendant Coca-Cola that a vending machine is not a place of public accommodation and that public...more
7/27/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coca Cola ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Public Accommodation ,
Public Use ,
Title III ,
Vending Machines
Seyfarth Synopsis: A federal judge in the Central District of California has allowed a blind plaintiff to continue his lawsuit about the accessibility of a public accommodation’s website under Title III of the ADA, despite...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The first trial under the ADA about the accessibility of a public accommodation’s website took place last week in the Southern District of Florida.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Robert Scola presided...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: With the recent proliferation of web accessibility demand letters and lawsuits, businesses often ask whether settling a claim with one plaintiff will bar future lawsuits brought by different plaintiffs. One...more
Seyfarth synopsis: A Florida Judge Holds that SeaWorld’s website is not a place of public accommodation covered by Title III of the ADA but the decision has its limits....more