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....more
4/29/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appellate Courts ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Court Administration ,
Court Schedules ,
Deadlines ,
Extensions ,
Judicial System ,
Telecommunications ,
Trial Attorneys ,
Website Accessibility ,
Websites
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Health and Human Services Department Office for Civil Rights issued a bulletin reminding healthcare and other entities receiving federal funds that their anti-discrimination obligations under...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an Executive Order suspending some Cal-WARN Act obligations, attempting to ease struggling employers’ obligations in the face of COVID-19; but note that employers...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: 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: Governor Newsom has approved some of the bills most feared by employers, including bills to ban employment arbitration, extend FEHA administrative deadlines, codify the Dynamex ABC test, and create San...more
10/15/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
FEHA ,
Governor Vetoes ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
New Legislation ,
Organ Donation ,
School Shootings ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Legislature has passed a series of bills for Governor Newsom to consider. He now has until October 13 to approve or veto bills such as a Dynamex codification bill and a San Francisco-inspired...more
9/20/2019
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Arbitration ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Damages ,
Employee Definition ,
Employee Training ,
Entertainment Industry ,
FEHA ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Commissioners ,
Labor Regulations ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Minor Children ,
Modeling ,
Motion Picture Industry ,
New Legislation ,
Organ Donation ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Race Discrimination ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Student Athletes ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Injury
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....more
9/11/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Article III ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Dominos ,
Due Process ,
Popular ,
Public Accommodation ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Standing ,
Title III ,
Unruh Civil Rights Act ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
Seyfarth Synopsis: California employers racing to ensure all their employees receive mandatory harassment training by the end of the year can now take their foot off the gas. In response to an outcry from employer groups...more
9/6/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Compliance Dates ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hostile Environment ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
Seyfarth Synopsis: Congress Members recently renewed their efforts to take legislative action and urge the DOJ take regulatory action regarding physical and website accessibility, respectively....more
9/4/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Equal Access ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Access Laws ,
Public Accommodation ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Title III ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Websites
Seyfarth Synopsis: The hotly contested AB 5 was put on hold, but is widely expected to be revived before the end of the legislative session....more
8/16/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Misclassification ,
Pending Legislation ,
Retroactive Application ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State and Local Government
The task of counting the number of ADA Title III lawsuits filed in federal courts grows with the ever-increasing numbers of lawsuits. For the period from January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2019, our research team counted 5,592...more
Domino’s filed its petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court today, June 13, 2019, asking the Court to review and overturn the Ninth Circuit’s decision which allowed a website accessibility lawsuit to...more
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...more
6/12/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Dismissals ,
Kroger ,
Public Accommodation ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Title III ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
Seyfarth Synopsis: Four years and two motions to dismiss based on the pleadings later, the National Association of the Deaf’s (NAD) online video captioning lawsuit against Harvard is moving forward to fact discovery. ...more
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...more
The number of ADA Title III lawsuits filed in federal court in 2018 hit a record high of 10,163 – up 34% from 2017 when the number was a mere 7,663. ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Ninth Circuit overturns district court’s dismissal of website accessibility lawsuit on due process and primary jurisdiction grounds, remands case to proceed with discovery....more
1/17/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Dominos ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Mobile Apps ,
Public Accommodation ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Title III ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
Seyfarth Synopsis: A new Ohio law will require notice and opportunity to cure as a prerequisite for a plaintiff’s recovery of attorney’s fees in physical accessibility lawsuits. ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Department of Transportation says that an airline’s provision of an accessible alternative website violates the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), so are such websites an acceptable means of providing...more
12/31/2018
/ Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) ,
Airlines ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Aviation Industry ,
Consent Order ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Public Accommodation ,
Title III ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
Seyfarth Synopsis: Due process, DOJ’s failure to enact regulations, and whether the ADA covers websites arguments dominated the recent Domino’s Ninth Circuit oral argument....more
10/22/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Dominos ,
Due Process ,
Primary Jurisdiction Doctrine ,
Public Accommodation ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Title III ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
On October 12, in sunny Pasadena, California, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the Robles v. Dominos case. ...more
10/15/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Dominos ,
Due Process ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Primary Jurisdiction Doctrine ,
Title III ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
Seyfarth Synopsis: California Legislators sent Governor Jerry Brown 1,217 bills to consider in his final bill-signing period as Governor—more than any California governor has seen since 2004. The final tally: 1016 signed, 201...more
10/2/2018
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Board of Directors ,
Breastfeeding ,
Class Action ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Diversity ,
Employee Training ,
Governor Brown ,
Governor Vetoes ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Mediation ,
New Legislation ,
Popular ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Screening Procedures ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Waiver of Rights ,
Woman Board Members
Seyfarth Synopsis: Governor Jerry Brown has already signed into law legislation covering meal period exceptions for truck drivers delivering commercial feed, adding communications to be considered as “privileged” for purposes...more
9/17/2018
/ Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Immigrants ,
Internal Reporting ,
Labor Code ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Privileged Communication ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trucking Industry ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: Not long after a similar Congressional appeal, Senators sent a letter to Attorney General Sessions urging action to stem the tide of website accessibility lawsuits plaguing businesses....more
9/17/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Public Accommodation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Title III ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites