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ADA and FHA Quick Hits – dog days of summer edition

August 8, 2021 By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA - Hotels, ADA - serial litigation, ADA - Standing, ADA Bars, ADA Internet, ADA Internet Web, ADA Mootness, ADA Website Accessibility Tags: accessible bar seating, ADA defense, ADA Mootness, FHA Defense, Robles v Dominos, Strojnik

The constellation Canis Major rises and falls with the sun during the hottest part July and August; hence the “dog days of summer.” Although only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun*  the courts have been busy working in air conditioned chambers on ADA and FHA matters:

Just what is an accessible website?

Wright v. Thread Experiment, LLC, 2021 WL 243604, at *4 (S.D. Ind., Jan. 22, 2021) is a default judgment case, but it remains interesting because the Court expressly declined to order compliance with any version of WCAG, choosing instead to enter a much less specific permanent injunction ordering that the Defendant be enjoined:
from operating, utilizing, or maintaining www.threadexperiment.com unless and until it fully complies with the requirements of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq., and its implementing regulations, 28 CFR § 36.302 et seq. Defendant is ORDERED to modify the existing features of www.threadexperiment.com and to remove barriers that prevent this website’s compatibility with screen reading technology so that it is accessible to blind or low-vision individuals utilizing screen reading technology.

The first sentence of this injunction seems to violate the general rule against injunctions that simply order compliance with the law.  See, e.g., E.E.O.C. v. AutoZone, Inc., 707 F.3d 824, 842 (7th Cir. 2013).  As the Court observes, there are no regulatory requirements for websites, so the first sentence is just an order to follow the ADA. More


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Need to get rid of some blood? Plasma donation centers and the ADA.

July 23, 2021 By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA, Medical Tags: ADA defense, Gomez v CLS Plasma, goods v services, Half Price Books

Lady McBeth staring at blood on her handsLady McBeth notoriously had a problem with some blood she needed to get rid of. It wasn’t a lot, but suppose she wanted to unload a pint of plasma at her local donation center. Would she be going to a service establishment subject to the ADA, or would this be some other kind of commercial transaction? That question is the subject of a recent DOJ Statement of interest that I’ll discuss in a minute. First though let’s take a look at buying and selling things in general. More


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DOJ announces that there is no safe harbor for physical accessibility.

July 19, 2021 By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA - Hotels, ADA Internet, ADA Internet Web, ADA regulations, ADA rulemaking, Hospitality, Hotels, Inventory requirements Tags: accessible beds., ADA defense, FHA Defense, Hotel beds, Migyanko v. Aimbridge

boat at anchor in a quiet lagoonEarly last month the Department of Justice filed a “Statement of Interest” in Migyanko v. Aimbridge Hospitality LLC¹ that should give pause to every business subject to Title III of the ADA; that is, every business.  Two sentences from the Statement of Interest are of particular concern:

“The ADA Standards do not address every aspect of physical accessibility.”

and

“Of course, in the absence of specific requirements for bed height, hotels have some degree of flexibility in making reasonable modifications to provide usable beds for a person with a disability.  This flexible standard is inherently fact-specific.”

To understand why these innocuous statements are of such concern requires a look at this case and the problems created when DOJ declares that something is discriminatory without defining what discrimination means. More


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Quick Hits – almost Bastille Day edition

July 12, 2021 By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA, ADA - Hotels, ADA - serial litigation, ADA Class Actions, ADA Internet Web, ADA Litigation Procedure, Internet Accessibility Tags: ADA defense, ADA standing, FHA Defense, hotel accessibility information

Delacroix painting Liberty Leading the PeopleSerial litigators file lots of cases and that means lots of decisions, sometimes coming in batches. I’ve omitted a few decisions that say nothing more than the cases I have reviewed just to keep this blog manageable. If there is a theme, it is simply that despite very clear trends toward limiting serial litigation by paying more attention to standing, the outcome of any given case depends very much on the judge because there is still relatively little Circuit court guidance on some issues. Like Delacroix’s inspirational painting of Liberty Leading the People, celebrations of freedom from abusive ADA and FHA litigation may be premature. Before making any strategic decision you need to research the specific decisions of the judge who will hear your case because the ancien régime isn’t gone yet. More


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Transunion v Ramirez – has the Supreme Court put an end to cheap standing in ADA litigation?

June 28, 2021 By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA - drive-by litigation, ADA - serial litigation, ADA - Standing, ADA Web Access, ADA Website Accessibility Tags: ADA defense, ADA standing, concrete injury, Transunion v Ramirez

Almost every claim brought under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act raises standing issues because, in almost every case, the lawsuit is the result of a plaintiff, usually sponsored by a law firm, seeking out an ADA violation in order to make money off a quick settlement.¹ The Supreme Court’s June 25, 2021 decision in Transunion LLC v. Ramirez, No. 20-297 (June 24, 2021) will significantly limit, but probably not eliminate modern industrial scale ADA litigation. More


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Richard M. Hunt


Hunt Huey PLLC
3333 Lee Parkway, Suite 600
Dallas, Texas 75219
972-675-2236 phone
214-279-6124 fax
rhunt@hunthuey.com

I defend businesses nationwide in ADA and FHA accessibility lawsuits and consult with businesses and other attorneys concerning how to promptly and effectively deal with ADA and FHA demands, minimize litigation risk, and obtain meaningful compliance with the ADA and FHA. For more information about this feel free to email me at rhunt@hunthuey.com or visit our firm web site, hunthuey.com

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    The Rolling Stones famously asked that they be rolled like a pair of tumbling dice, and looking at recent Title III ADA headlines reminded me of just what a crapshoot ADA litigation can be. The good news for businesses is that the district attorneys of San Francisco and Los Angeles have filed suit against the […]
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