DOJ
ADA Title II – Maybe sidewalks aren’t services after all
By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA FHA Litigation General, DOJ, municipal government, Public Facilities, Title II Tags: accessible facilities, cities, project civic access, sidewalks
Does this look like a “service, program or activity?” The official position of the Department of Justice is that every city facility – sidewalks, buildings and the like – must be made accessible because building and maintaining those facilities is a “service, program or activity” of the city. The Fifth Circuit agreed in what has been a leading case on this issue, Frame v. City of Arlington. Now it appears this view is not unanimous. Just a month ago, in Babcock v. Michigan, 2016 WL 456213, (6th Cir. Feb. 5, 2016) the Sixth Circuit found that the Fifth Circuit was wrong, and that:
A word to the wise – DOJ is looking for ADA violations.
By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA, DOJ, Restaurants Tags: ADA "Department of Justice" Restaurants
Thanks blog is thanks to Ken Besserman, General Counsel of the Texas Restaurant Association, who sent me this link to an article about an announced Department of Justice investigation of restaurants in Houston, Texas. Twenty-five popular restaurants will be investigated for ADA violations over the next several months.
This investigation is worthy of note for several reasons. First, none of the restaurants is the subject of any specific complaint. Instead the investigation was timed to coincide with a symposium of civil rights advocacy groups. This is a good reminder for all businesses that the power of the Department of Justice to investigate possible ADA violations does not require that DOJ wait for a specific complaint. A business thinking that it won’t be targeted because it seems to have no disabled customers needs to know that DOJ doesn’t need a disabled complaining party in order to enforce the ADA. More
The ADA turns 25 – let’s celebrate with a lawsuit!
By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA, ADA Attorney's Fees, ADA FHA Litigation General, DOJ Tags: ADA Anniversary, ada litigation, ada violation, Department of Justice, private lawsuits
The Department of Justice and various disabilities rights groups are busy celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It is a peculiarly American kind of celebration, because much of the focus is on stepped up enforcement; that is, filing a lot of new lawsuits. The lead sentence from an article in the Austin American-Statesman sums up the party atmosphere:
“A quarter-century after the American Disabilities Act banned the discrimination of disabled Americans, the Texas Civil Rights Project filed 32 lawsuits across Texas.” — including 14 in Austin — that shared a common theme: Access is a civil right.”
Strangle the internet? That’s what DOJ’s position on ADA accessibility would do.
By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA, ADA Internet Web, ADA regulations, DOJ, Internet Tags: ada litigation, Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Speech, internet, private lawsuits, World Wide Web
On June 26 the Department of Justice announced that it had filed Statements of Interest in two lawsuits concerning access to online content. The suits were filed against Harvard (National Ass’n of the Deaf v. Harvard University et al, Case No. 3:15-cv-30023 in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts) and M.I.T. (National Ass’n of the Deaf v. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Case No. 3:15-cv-300024 in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts). Both Statements of Interest make the same claim; that is, that all online content must be accessible to those with disabilities if offered by a “public accommodation.” The phrase “public accommodation” as defined in the statute includes any “place of education.” More