A lawsuit claiming that Beyoncé’s website is not accessible to the blind has gotten lots of coverage*, but the real news of importance to business is that the plaintiff – Mary Conner – has filed more than 20 similar suits in the last twelve months. She claims to be a passionate Beyoncé fan who wanted to buy a special hoodie, just as she has claimed to be a passionate Rihanna fan who wanted to buy…

In Griffin v. Dept. of Lab. Fed. Credit Union, 18-1312, 2019 WL 80704 (4th Cir. Jan. 3, 2019), decided earlier today, the Fourth Circuit gave the defendant credit union a victory that on its face is meaningful only for credit unions and other membership organizations. However, although its conclusive denial of standing for the plaintiff was stated in the narrowest terms, the reasoning implies a view of standing with much broader implications. Standing requires that a plaintiff…

There is only one prediction that can be made with complete certainty about ADA and FHA litigation in 2019: Lawyers will continue to make money exploiting these laws for profit in the name of accessibility. The number of lawsuits continues to climb, and with Congress and regulators unwilling to do anything this exploitation will continue. However, before we face the new challenges of a new year it is time for a final look backward at…

The financial markets are bouncing around like ping pong balls, but there is one financial indicator that is only going up. For website accessibility litigation we have a bull market and no sign of a recession. Based on federal filings alone the number of website accessibility cases almost tripled in 2018, increasing by 181%*. For ordinary serial ADA litigation based on parking and restrooms the market is flat and the cases confirm the general lack…

Velez v. Il Fornanio (America) Corporation, 2018 WL 6446169, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Dec. 10, 2018) provides a perfect case study in the problems that arise when mental impairments give rise to physical impairments and both give rise to an ADA claim. The opinion isn’t long, but it deserves a careful look since obesity is on the rise and may represent the next frontier in disability rights litigation. The plaintiff in Velez sued after visiting three restaurants…

That’s right, it’s Cyber Monday. Interestingly enough there have been no ADA web access decisions since my last Quick Hits blog, but there are still a few developments of interest. The long road from an interesting partial victory to a final settlement. I blogged about States v. Mid-America Apartment Comms., Inc., 247 F. Supp. 3d 30, 36 (D.D.C. Mar. 27, 2017) last year.* The case was interesting because the defendant got a preliminary ruling suggesting that…

Accessibility Defense has once again been nominated for the Expert Institute’s Best Legal Blog competition. If you agree that this is useful tool for you please go ahead and vote for us, which you can do at this link: Vote for Accessibility Defense.…