[author: Dean Morande]
In Ault v. Walt Disney World Co., 692 F.3d 1212 (11th Cir. 2012), a class settlement was reached in a suit alleging that Disney’s policy banning the use of two-wheeled vehicles violated Title III. The settlement involved Disney’s agreement to implement a four-wheeled stand-up mobility vehicle. Objectors to the settlement asserted that the settlement should have been rejected, both because the class representatives lacked typicality and because the class settlement was not fair. Both the district court and the Eleventh Circuit disagreed.
In rejecting the argument against typicality (based on each class members’ varying reliance on the two-wheeled vehicles), the Eleventh Circuit noted that all the claims in the class arise from the same policy, and all are based on liability pursuant to Title III.
In holding that the class settlement was fair, the Eleventh Circuit determined that the district court did not abuse its discretion in ruling that Disney was likely to prevail at trial by showing that it fulfilled its obligations under Title III.