New England Biz Law Update
The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed as moot a case addressing the standing of so-called tester plaintiffs to sue hotels under the Americans with Disabilities Act for failing to disclose accessibility information on their websites and through other reservation services.
The outcome leaves unresolved an issue that has divided the federal circuits.
The case involved whether Deborah Laufer, who is disabled with limited mobility, has the right to sue a hotel in Maine that lacked the accessibility information on its website, despite having no plans to visit it.
Defendant Acheson Hotels argued that Laufer lacked standing to bring her suit because she never intended to book a room when she visited the hotel’s website.
U.S. District Court Judge George Z. Singal in Maine agreed and dismissed the case.
A 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel reversed, reading Supreme Court precedent as standing for the proposition that the denial of information that a plaintiff is statutorily entitled to have can make for a “concrete injury in fact.”
“The [ADA regulation at issue] recognizes that the public information on accessibility features is necessary to make sure disabled persons are ‘able to reserve hotel rooms with the same efficiency, immediacy, and convenience as those who do not need accessible guest rooms,’” Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson wrote for the panel. “Denying Laufer the same ‘efficiency, immediacy, and convenience’ as those not requiring accommodations is exactly the discrimination the regulations are trying to stamp out.”
In an effort to forestall an unfavorable Supreme Court ruling, Laufer later withdrew her lawsuit against the hotel, according to The Associated Press.
Accordingly, the Supreme Court dismissed the case and threw out the 1st Circuit’s ruling.
