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Hunt quoted in Law 360 article on ADA issues for sports arenas

By Richard Hunt on July 17, 2019

I do like to toot my own horn from time to time. I was among several ADA experts quoted in an article by Zachery Zagger on stadium line-of-sight problems under the ADA that was published by Law 360 on July 3, 2019. These cases figure prominently in the Auer deference issues for Title III of the ADA that I hope to blog on soon. See, MLB Parks Face Costly Fixes As ADA Suits Target Sightlines. …

Accessibility Defense

Auer deference and the Fair Housing Act – does Kisor change anything?

By Richard Hunt on July 5, 2019

Just last week the Supreme Court took a long hard look at something called “Auer deference” and decided that it would remain the law, but with some strings attached. Kisor v Wilke, No. 18-15 (June 26, 2019). I’ve never once had the occasion to mention Auer deference in this blog or in any brief I’ve filed in disability lawsuits, but the decision could have an impact on future disability rights litigation. In this blog I’ll consider…

Accessibility Defense

Quick Hits – Serial filer edition

By Richard Hunt on June 29, 2019

This is a bad pun. Sorry. All but two of today’s cases are from serial filers, and 7 of 17 are from a single serial filer, Scott Johnson. The fact that serial filers dominate the world of ADA litigation is hardly news; in fact, it would news if an ordinary disabled individual who suffered a real ADA injury filed suit. It is also news that federal judges in the mid-west are showing an increased reluctance…

Accessibility Defense

“An atmosphere as quiet as an undiscovered tomb” – is that what the ADA requires?

By Richard Hunt on June 23, 2019

In My Fair Lady Henry Higgins famously described his ideal room as having an atmosphere as quiet as an undiscovered tomb. Some anti-noise advocates would like to have the ADA impose this kind of requirement on every public accommodation. A recent news story* about this illustrates how little the press and public understand about what the ADA requires. The complaint that prompted the story is simple. If you have a hearing impairment then it is…

Accessibility Defense

ADA Website litigation may get Supreme Court review – Domino’s fights on

By Richard Hunt on June 15, 2019

Domino’s Pizza has filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court challenging the Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in favor of Guillermo Robles.* The Court’s decision on whether to grant certiorari will have a profound impact on the possible “tsunami”** of website accessibility lawsuits, but we don’t have to wait for that decision to find the Petition itself interesting. What I find most intriguing is Domino’s argument that the Ninth…

Accessibility Defense

Eternal liability under ADA Title – It’s what you don’t do that matters

By Richard Hunt on June 9, 2019

I’ve observed before that titles II and III of the ADA create what can be called a crime looking for a victim.* The decision in Hamer v. City of Trinidad, 2019 WL 2120132 (10th Cir. May 15, 2019) shows how defining the crime can change the burden cities may face today based on decisions that go back decades or even centuries. The decision in Hamer will allow almost any person with a disability to demand that every…

Accessibility Defense

Accessibility moots a website accessibility claim – a surprising decision that shouldn’t surprise anyone.

By Richard Hunt on June 7, 2019

On Tuesday, June 4 Judge Katherine Failla of the Southern District of New York issued a critical decision finding that a website accessibility case could be mooted by simply fixing the website. Diaz v. Kroger Co., Case No. 1:18-cv-7953 (June 4, 2019). She also found that Kroger was not subject to personal jurisdiction in New York on more conventional grounds, but the mootness holding is critical. As is often the case in mootness decisions the facts…

Accessibility Defense

ADA policy modifications – does my fear makes your modification necessary?

By Richard Hunt on June 6, 2019

J.D. v. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Case No. 18-1725 (4th Circuit, May 31, 2019) to my attention. For those interested in the parameters of the ADA’s requirement that public accommodations modify their rules for the disabled the case has a thorough discussion of the basic case law. What I find more interesting is the Court’s failure to address its imposition of a double standard in dealing with modification requests. It seems that for businesses it is…

Accessibility Defense

Reasonableness and undue burden for captioning websites – there are precedents

By Richard Hunt on May 30, 2019

My colleague William Goren recently shared with me some correspondence with an internet service for attorneys that was offering a free webinar. Bill is deaf and was inquiring about captioning for the webinar. The response was that the service through which the webinar was offered didn’t offer captioning. I had looked at the same issue myself a few years ago in an effort to make my own webinars more accessible. What I found was that…

Accessibility Defense

Quick Hits – Memorial Day edition

By Richard Hunt on May 27, 2019

This Memorial Day we are once again firing up the grill with hundred dollar bills to celebrate how the ADA its current form encourages litigation that makes lawyers rich without any correspondening improvement in meaningful access for the disabled. The first case presents the unappetizing picture of a single claimed lack of access generating parallel state and federal proceedings as defendants and plaintiffs maneuver for a procedural advantage. The last explores the exploitation of California…

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Hunt quoted in Law 360 article on ADA issues for sports arenas

Auer deference and the Fair Housing Act – does Kisor change anything?

Quick Hits – Serial filer edition

“An atmosphere as quiet as an undiscovered tomb” – is that what the ADA requires?

ADA Website litigation may get Supreme Court review – Domino’s fights on

Eternal liability under ADA Title – It’s what you don’t do that matters

Accessibility moots a website accessibility claim – a surprising decision that shouldn’t surprise anyone.

ADA policy modifications – does my fear makes your modification necessary?

Reasonableness and undue burden for captioning websites – there are precedents

Quick Hits – Memorial Day edition

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