MESSAGE
| DATE | 2022-03-04 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Fwd: All-Time High Number of ADA Title III Suits
|
The AMericans with Disabilities act has turned into a monster harrasment
vehical for the entire economy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New York Law Journal Afternoon Alert
https://adasoutheast.org/ada-title-iii-federal-lawsuit-filings-hit-an-all-time-high/
ADA Title III Federal Lawsuit Filings Hit an All Time High
February 25, 2022
Source: Seyfarth Shaw, LLP
/Seyfarth Synopsis: Plaintiffs continue filing ADA Title III lawsuits
in record numbers with no sign of stopping./
As regular readers of this blog know, the number of ADA Title III
lawsuits filed in federal court in 2020
dipped
slightly under 11,000, but the plaintiffs’ bar came roaring back in
2021. There were at least 11,452 federal filings last year – an all-time
record since we started keeping track in 2013 when there were only 2,722
suits. /That’s a 320% increase in eight years./
[Total Number of ADA Title III Federal Lawsuits Filed Each Year January
1, 2013 – December 31, 2021: 2013: 2,722; 2014: 4,436 63% increase over
2013; 2015: 4,789 8% increase over 2014; 2016: 6,601 38% increase over
2015; 2017: 7,663 16% increase over 2016; 2018: 10,163 33% increase over
2017; 2019: 11,053 9% increase over 2018; 2020: 10,982 1% decrease from
2019; 2021: 11,452 4% increase over 2020]
Has the world become more inaccessible? We don’t think physical
facilities are any less accessible than they were in 2013. If anything,
they should be more accessible as new buildings built in compliance with
the ADA Standards for Accessible Design replace old ones and more time
has passed for businesses to engage in readily achievable barrier
removal in pre-ADA facilities. So what is driving these huge numbers?
We haven’t finished our tally for 2021 but we know that in 2020, more
than 2,500 lawsuits
were
filed in federal court about the accessibility of websites – a type of
lawsuit that was rare to non-existent back in 2013. In addition, in
2021, a number of firms filed dozens, if not hundreds, of cookie-cutter
website accessibility lawsuits. Plaintiffs’ lawyers also filed hundreds
of lawsuits on a new theory that that hotels violated the ADA by failing
to disclose sufficient information about their accessible rooms
on reservations
websites.
One firm filed over 550 of these cases starting at the end of 2020 and
continuing through 2021. And, of course, the cases alleging physical
access barriers in facilities such as shopping centers, restaurants, and
hotels keep on coming – even in 2020-21 when indoor activities were
often shut-down.
What do the numbers tell us?
California remains a lawsuit hotbed, no doubt because plaintiffs can add
a state law discrimination claim under the Unruh Act and get $4,000 in
statutory damages for every incident of discrimination without even
having to prove an actual injury. The 5,930 California filings
accounted for just over half the total number of filings nationwide.
New York was a distant second, with 2,774 lawsuits, and Florida was
third, with only 1,054 lawsuits. In short, there were more ADA Title
III suits filed in California than in all other 49 states combined.
[California, New York, Florida ADA Tile III Federal Lawsuits 2013-2021:
California: 2013: 995; 2014 1,866; 2015: 1,659; 2016: 2,458; 2017:
2,751; 2018: 4,249; 2019: 4,794; 2020: 5,869; 2021: 5,930; Florida:
2013: 816; 2014: 1,553; 2015: 1,338; 2016:1,663; 2017: 1,488; 2018:
1,941; 2019: 1,885; 2020: 1,208; 2021: 1,054; New York: 2013: 125; 2014:
212; 2015: 366; 2016: 543; 2017: 1,023; 2018: 2,338; 2019: 2,635; 2020:
2,238; 2021: 2,774]
Rounding out the top ten were Texas (337), Pennsylvania (161), Georgia
(160), Nevada (130), Colorado (102), Illinois (99), and Tennessee (91).
Nevada and Tennessee are newcomers to the top ten, displacing New Jersey
and Massachusetts which fell to eleventh and thirteenth places with 70
and 51 lawsuits, respectively.
[Top 10 States with Federal ADA Title III Lawsuits Filed January 1, 2021
– December 31, 2021: California: 5, 930; New York: 2,774; Florida:
1,054; Texas: 337; Pennsylvania: 161; Georgia: 160; Nevada: 130;
Colorado: 102; Illinois: 99; Tennessee: 91]
There were no ADA Title III federal lawsuits at all in Alaska, Delaware,
Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, and North Dakota.
March and November 2021 were the busiest months for new filings with
1,108 and 1,148 cases, respectively, while July and December 2021 were
the least busy filing months with 743 and 732 filings. Even plaintiffs’
lawyers have to go on vacation and celebrate the holidays, it seems.
[Total Number of Federal ADA Title III Lawsuits Filed Per Month January
1, 2021 – December 31, 2021: January: 1,108; February: 994; March:
1,240; April: 1,018; May: 1,003; June: 941; July: 743; August: 864;
September: 836; October: 825; November: 1,148; December: 732]
We predict 2022 will be comparable to 2021 unless there is another
COVID-related shutdown, but that seems unlikely at this point. Plus,
ADA Title III lawyers have adapted to working remotely and are more
productive than ever.
/A note on our methodology: /Our research involved a painstaking manual
process of going through all federal cases that were coded as
“ADA-Other,” manually culling out the ADA Title II cases in which the
defendants are state and local governments, and categorizing them by
state. The manual process means there is the small possibility of human
error.
News source:
adatitleiii.com/2022/02/ada-title-iii-federal-lawsuit-filings-hit-an-all-time-high
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