In a careful, reasoned decision that deeply explored the meaning of “public accommodation” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently published a final rule on the accessibility of medical diagnostic equipment (MDE) and other accessibility-related practices that promises to have broad impact on the health care...more
11/13/2024
/ Accessibility Rules ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Compliance ,
Covered Entities ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diagnostic Tests ,
Durable Medical Equipment ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
State and Local Government ,
Title III ,
Title VII
The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recent release of an advance copy of its final rule on website accessibility for state and local governments under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides a...more
4/24/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Federal Funding ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Public Accommodation ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Title III ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Websites
On February 9, 2024, a federal judge in the Western District of Pennsylvania departed from earlier rulings in the district to hold that an online retailer’s website and its other digital properties did not constitute a “place...more
On December 5, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States vacated a case over whether a self-proclaimed “tester” had standing to bring Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claims against a hotel that she did not plan to...more
In August 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would make the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) the standard for compliance for state and local governments...more
10/10/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
NPRM ,
Private Sector ,
Public Accommodation ,
Regulatory Standards ,
State and Local Government ,
Title II ,
Title III ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
On October 4, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in a highly-anticipated case over whether a self-proclaimed “tester” plaintiff has standing to bring Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claims...more
10/9/2023
/ Acheson Hotels LLC v Laufer ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disability Access Claims ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Mootness ,
Oral Argument ,
Public Accommodation ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Title III ,
Websites
When one of our clients recently received nearly-identical demand letters from remote, unrelated, and unrepresented parties claiming website accessibility and threatening legal action for damages under the Americans with...more
4/25/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Best Practices ,
Bots ,
Demand Letter ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Public Accommodation ,
Title III ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
The U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (commonly known as the Access Board) announced that it intends to issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) under the Americans with...more
The Court of Appeal of the State of California, Fourth Appellate District, recently handed a potentially significant website accessibility win to the business community under the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Unruh Act) when it...more
For years, Scott Dinin was one of South Florida’s most prolific filers of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) cases. His run ended two years ago, when, after obtaining default judgments against two gas...more
9/2/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Disgorgement ,
Frivolous Lawsuits ,
Gas Stations ,
Injunctions ,
Misrepresentation ,
Public Accommodation ,
Sanctions ,
Standing ,
Title III
On April 7, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals rendered its long-awaited opinion in Gil v. Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., reversing a trial court’s decision against Winn-Dixie, holding that websites are not places of...more
The California Department of Public Health’s newly issued “Guidance for the Use of Face Coverings” replaces a patchwork of county and municipal standards with a statewide standard mandating face coverings in businesses and...more
While many traditional places of public accommodation, such as theaters, stadiums, restaurants, amusement parks, and retail stores, have shut down their operations in response to “shelter in place” and “social distancing”...more
The Department of Justice has finally broken its long silence on website accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the news is both good and bad. The bad: the Department rejected calls from the...more
The House of Representatives passed a bill on February 15, 2018, that requires Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III plaintiffs to provide businesses with notice and an opportunity to cure any barriers before filing...more
In a move that surprises no one, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced today, December 26, 2017, that it has officially withdrawn its two Advanced Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) related to website...more
A federal district court in Los Angeles last week endorsed the possibility that a business may be able to avoid making a website accessible if it provides the same goods and services through telephonic customer service. The...more
On August 8, 2017, the Nevada attorney general moved to intervene in an action brought by Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) serial litigant Kevin Zimmerman and to consolidate it with the more than 150 other pending...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has placed its once-planned website accessibility regulations under Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on an inactive list, putting to rest speculation about...more
Are public accommodations required to admit personal care providers for free? That’s the question that the lawyers in our Disability Access Practice Group have been hearing with increasing frequency since the U.S. District...more
In an article published recently in The Wall Street Journal (“Disability Lawsuits Against Small Businesses Soar,” October 15, 2014), staff writer Angus Loten reported that accessibility lawsuits brought under the Americans...more