Businesses who are Non-Compliant with Laws are at Risk of the Proverbial Set-Up
On October 5, 2022, the First Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s decision, finding that a disabled wheelchair-bound Florida woman, Deborah Laufer, and self-proclaimed ADA “tester” who from her computer in Florida hunts websites searching for ADA compliance violators has standing, allowing her to bring suit against a hotel on the southern coast of Maine, Acheson Hotels, LLC because it failed to identify handicapped accessible rooms. Laufer has filed hundreds of other ADA-related suits in federal courts from coast to coast, and standing was held regardless of the fact that Laufer had no real intention of booking a room.
Laufer leaned heavily on Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman, 455 U.S. 363 (1982) in which a Black plaintiff asked Havens Realty on multiple occasions whether it had any units for rent. She was told “no,” whereas when a White plaintiff asked the same question, they were told “yes.” There the Court held there was an injury to the Black plaintiff.
Federal regulations clearly provide that hotel reservation portals must provide enough detail to allow individuals with disabilities to know what services they can enjoy, according to 28 C.F.R. § 36.302(e), which Laufer alleges Acheson’s portals did not do. When a public accommodation violates the ADA and discriminates against a disabled person, the ADA and the regulations promulgated under it permit private individuals to bring enforcement actions in federal court. 42 U.S.C. § 12188(a); 28 C.F.R. § 36.501.
When Laufer first visited Acheson’s website, she found that: it didn’t identify accessible rooms; didn’t provide an option for booking such an accessible room; and that it didn’t give her sufficient information to determine whether it was accessible to her. She also faced the same dearth of information when she visited the hotel’s reservation service using thirteen other third-party websites including: Expedia.com; Hotels.com; and Booking.com.
The moral of this story is to check whether your business, websites and all social media comply with the most up-to-date ADA regulations.
If you have questions about this topic, or any other general employment issues, please do not hesitate to contact the attorneys at The Royal Law Firm at 413-586-2288.
