The Department of Justice issues a press release every time it enters into a settlement agreement of some kind. The foundations of accessibility law are the statutes and the cases applying them, but there are a lot of practical lessons to be learned from the settlements obtained by the DOJ, so it is worth looking
Lactose intolerance, milk allergies and the ADA
I always think of donuts when I hear Dunkin Donuts, but of course now it is just “Dunkin” and coffee is at the top of their product line. Hence the coffee cup to the left, because we are back to alternative milk products and the ADA.
The last time I blogged about this subject was…
Loper Bright v Raimondo – the demise of Chevron may change FHA disability litigation.
In Loper Bright Enterprises et al v. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce et al, Case No. 22-451 (June 28, 2024) the Supreme Court overruled Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., a case that, as one commentator observed, was the foundation of the administrative state.¹ At first glance this decision has little to…
Grants Pass v Johnson – is homelessness an ADA issue?
In City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson et al, Case No. 23-175 (June 28, 2024) the Supreme Court, after a very long discussion, found that the prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment in the Eighth Amendment does not forbid cities from passing laws that prohibit public camping. The legal reasoning is simple. The Eighth Amendment covers…
ADA Title II website regulations – is cyberspace a place?
I should begin by acknowledging that this is an editorial, not news. The news is simple – Title II entities must over the next few years bring their websites and mobile apps into conformance with WCAG 2.1 AA. The question is whether requiring that is a good way to do what the ADA is supposed…
ADA Title II website regulations – does anyone have a better idea?
There has been plenty of commentary about the new DOJ website accessibility regulations for Title II entities, which fall into the good news / bad news category typical of all regulations. The good news is they have adopted WCAG 2.1 AA as the technical standard, using a standard everyone is or should be familiar with.…
The Alice in Wonderland world of HUD’s definition of “handicap.”
Welcome to the Alice in Wonderland world of HUD reading the FHA. We can start with a quote from the novel by Lewis Carroll that sums up the problem:
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The…
Starbucks again – Lactose intolerance, alternative milk and the ADA
Back in 2022 a plaintiffs’ firm filed a national class action in Florida against Starbucks claiming that it discriminated against those with lactose intolerance by charging extra from non-dairy milk alternatives. The case progressed in fits and starts, as most such cases do, until February 27 of this year, when the Court gave the plaintiffs…
ADA and FHA Standing – good news, bad news and a twist
I don’t usually blog about my own cases because it requires that I put in a disclaimer.¹ However, a trio of district court decisions, including two in cases where I represent the defendant, justify another look at standing after Transunion and the Laufer cases.²
I’ll start with the good news of an apparent trend in…
Kiosks and the ADA – evaluating the risk after Davis v Lab Corp
Circuit court decisions on ADA cases are sparse when compared to the number of suits filed, and cases involving self-service kiosks are rare, so it isn’t surprising the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Davis et al v. Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings, Case No. 22-55873 (Ninth Circuit, February 8, 2024) has gotten a good deal of attention.…