We aren’t quite to Halloween, but the candy is certainly crowding the shelves of local stores, whose owners might want to take a look at Ryan v. Kohls, Inc., discussed below. Beyond that we have the usual roundup of default judgment cases, website accessibility standing cases, and of course some ordinary “drive-by” cases involving physical accessibility mixed in with cases that deserve special attention because they could have a broad impact on ADA and FHA litigation. Here they are. More
ADA defense
DOJ revamps its online information about Title III of the ADA
By Richard Hunt in ADA, ADA Internet Web, ADA Policies, ADA regulations, DOJ Tags: ADA defense, ADA Guidance, ADA information, DOJ ADA, DOJ website
Yesterday the Department of Justice rolled out a new online technical assistance webpage that cleans up a lot of the organizational problems I’ve blogged about in the past.* You can find it here. It isn’t perfect. You might wonder why, for example, we still have both a “Primer for Small Business” and a “Guide for Small Businesses” as well as two different documents concerning service animals. DOJ’s habit of publishing one topic guidances can be helpful, but the failure to consistently integrate them into more comprehensive documents makes it hard for businesses to have a single consistent place to go when they need information. We really need a well organized on-line encyclopedia of ADA guidance in plain language so that a business looking for a particular answer doesn’t have to guess which of the many available on-line documents will have it. It is also notable that DOJ still has materials written before the publication of the 2010 Standards as well as materials concerning communication that are more than 15 years old and therefore very likely to be out of date in light of technological developments.
Still, the re-organization is a welcome change and should be of some benefit to businesses interesting in maintaining ADA compliance without necessarily calling a lawyer.
* See, “Fighting fake ESA’s – Guidance on what constitutes reliable evidence of disability“
“Readily Achievable” – It’s as easy as pie – maybe.
By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA - drive-by litigation, ADA - serial litigation, ADA FHA Litigation General, ADA Litigation Procedure Tags: ADA default judgment, ADA defense, burden shifting, Colorado Cross Disability, Readily Achievable
I have often discussed the benefits of mootness as a defense in Title III ADA cases. Simply fix the problem and the plaintiff’s right to sue evaporates. Unfortunately, not all problems can be easily or cheaply fixed, leaving the defendant in the unpleasant position of having to spend an absurd amount of money or make an irritating settlement that pays the plaintiff’s lawyer to give up the claim. When the cost to fix a problem is high, the “readily achievable” standard in the ADA comes into play and can help the defendant.
ADA and FHA Quick Hits – Labor Day edition.
By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA, ADA - drive-by litigation, ADA - serial litigation, ADA - Standing, ADA Attorney's Fees, ADA Mootness, Animals, FHA Emotional Support Animals Tags: ADA defense, ADA Internet, ADA website, FHA Defense, FHA Guidelines, Glueck v National Conference of Bar Examiners, Hillesheim v Holiday Stationstores, mootness, service animals, Wetzel v Glen St. Andrew
Summer is almost over, but before I put away my flip flops and seer sucker suit here’s a last look at what has been a very busy summer in the field of ADA and FHA litigation.
Landlord liability for tenant discrimination
Wetzel v. Glen St. Andrew Living Community, LLC, 2018 WL 4057365 (7th Cir. Aug. 27, 2018) is a critically important decision for landlords because it holds a landlord may be liable for its failure to restrain discriminatory conduct by tenants. The plaintiff is a lesbian who found herself the subject of a “torrent” of abuse from fellow tenants based on her sexual orientation that included both verbal and physical assaults. The rules of the apartment complex were similar to those of most apartments and permitted the landlord to take action against any tenant whose conduct was a threat to the health and safety of others or interfered with the peaceful use and enjoyment of the apartments. The plaintiff reported the abuse to management, who did nothing about it. In fact, they engaged in various kinds of conduct that essentially punished the plaintiff for complaining. When the plaintiff finally sued under the Fair Housing Act the landlord’s defense was that it could not be held liable for discrimination by other tenants. More
ADA and FHA Quick Hits – Dog Days of Summer Edition
By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA - drive-by litigation, ADA - serial litigation, ADA - Standing, ADA Internet, ADA Internet Web, ADA Mootness, ADA Public Accommodation, ADA Web Access Tags: ADA defense, ADA franchise, ADA Mootness, ADA web internet, Haynes v Dunkin' Donuts
Congress and the President are taking a break, but the ADA and FHA cases keep coming. It has been an unusual few weeks because we have two circuit court opinions to discuss, though neither breaks much new ground. A third circuit court decision – Mielo v. Steak and Shake Operations – will get a blog of its own.
Temporary obstructions under the ADA
One of the circuit court decisions is Hillesheim v. Myron’s Cards and Gifts, Inc., 17-1408, 2018 WL 3602372 (8th Cir. July 27, 2018), which deals with problem of aisles blocked by “temporary” obstructions. We’ve blogged about this before* and the law really hasn’t changed. DOJ’s regulations acknowledge that aisles that are required to be 36″ wide will from time to time be blocked when shelves are being re-stocked or perhaps repaired. This doesn’t excuse the case in which the aisles are always blocked with something temporary. The line between temporary obstructions and permanent clutter can be hard to draw, and early in a lawsuit is not when hard lines are drawn. In this case the District Court dismissed a claim based on clutter in the aisles, applying an absolute rule that temporary obstructions could not violate the ADA. The Eighth Circuit disagreed, finding that the issue required factual development to decide whether the temporary obstructions were really temporary. This put it in line with the earlier cases cited in our past blogs. More