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  • 11th Circuit holds ADA action against restaurant chain’s website is not moot

    Courts

    On June 19, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit held that a plaintiff’s claims against a national restaurant chain for allegedly operating a website that was not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are not moot despite a previous settlement with a separate plaintiff. The plaintiff sued the restaurant chain seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, requesting that the court (i) order the restaurant to alter its website and make it accessible to individuals with disabilities as required by Title III of the ADA; and (ii) order the restaurant chain to continually update and maintain that accessibility. Prior to the plaintiff’s filing, the restaurant chain reached a settlement in an earlier case with similar claims. The district court held that the plaintiff’s claims were moot because the restaurant chain had already agreed to the remedy the plaintiff sought in the previous settlement and had begun the process of its remediation plan by placing an accessibility notice on its website. On appeal, the 11th Circuit disagreed with the lower court, holding that the plaintiff’s claims are not moot, finding that the restaurant chain has not yet successfully remediated its website and the plaintiff’s request for an injunction against the restaurant chain if the website is not brought into compliance is still viable. The appellate court also noted that the current plaintiff would have no way of enforcing the settlement’s remediation plan because he was not a party to that action.

    Courts Appellate Eleventh Circuit Americans with Disabilities Act

  • Superior Court rules phone calls, email are not alternatives to an ADA-compliant website

    Courts

    On May 21, a California Superior Court granted summary judgment to a visually-impaired plaintiff, ruling that “auxiliary aids” in the form of phone calls or email replies do not meet the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) burden of providing “full and equal enjoyment of…any place of public accommodation.” According to the order, the defendants, who operate a restaurant and website, argued in part that the plaintiff could have called or emailed the restaurant to obtain information from the website. However, the judge ruled that “email and telephone options do not provide effective communication ‘in a timely manner’ nor do they protect the independence of the visually impaired” because they force a wait for a call back or reply email. As to whether the defendants’ website qualified as a “place of public accommodation within the meaning of the ADA,” the judge ruled that—while courts are split about whether “public accommodations” are limited to physical spaces—the defendants’ restaurant website fell within the category of a public accommodation under a “plain reading” of the statute, and the DOJ’s interpretation of websites under Title III of the ADA. In addition to awarding $4,000 in statutory damages, the court issued an injunction to the defendants, ordering them to comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 AA to ensure their website is ADA compliant.

    Courts Americans with Disabilities Act State Issues DOJ

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