ada litigation
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NIMBY tenants and the ADA
NIMBY (“not in my back yard”) litigation is common under the Fair Housing Act. An organization that serves recovering addicts or individuals with mental disabilities will try to locate in a neighborhood where deed restrictions or zoning prohibits group homes and find its efforts blocked by the city or homeowners association because the neighbors don’t… Continue reading
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The Tenth Circuit makes the ADA 2010 Standards a true safe harbor for business.
A door is just a door, no matter how grand. That is what the Tenth Circuit’s held in Colorado Cross Disability Coal. v. Abercrombie & Fitch Co., 2014 WL 4290589 (10th Cir. 2014) when it reaffirmed what businesses have always believed; that is, that the 2010 Standards and their predecessor the ADAAG are a real safe harbor… Continue reading
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The danger of fighting a losing battle in ADA cases
This is a short follow-up to my May 14 blog “know when to fold ’em.” A couple of weeks after I published that piece a decision came out from the Northern District of Georgia that dramatically illustrates the risk of a vigorous defense in a losing case. Defense counsel interested in the legal principles that… Continue reading
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Good news for ADA defendants facing cut and paste pleadings
A pair of recent district court decisions provide some hope for defendants that federal courts are taking seriously the plaintiff’s obligation to plead an intelligible claim for relief. Unfortunately, the standard is still fairly low, and will only slightly limit cookie cutter lawsuits based on generic allegations. Nonetheless, ADA defendants will want to study the… Continue reading
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A green card is no red light when it comes to ADA and FHA litigation
Many modern building codes incorporate accessibility requirements that parallel or even exceed the requirements of the FHA and ADA. In fact, the regulations implementing the accessibility provisions of the Fair Housing Act identify as safe harbors the provisions of several versions of the International Building Code. It is hardly surprising then that property owners and… Continue reading