In this episode, John Di Giacomo and Eric Misterovich dive into the issues surrounding lawsuits over the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and ecommerce websites.
Intro
World of scammy lawsuits is nothing new, but there is a popular trend impacting ecomm store owners: lawsuits claiming websites are not ADA compliant for the visually impaired
Before we dive into this topic, let’s visit the history of shitty lawsuits attorneys/companies file in the online space
copyright trolls
stock photo companies looking for unauthorized uses
Freeplay music
Confusing on what license you actually have / synch license
bit torrent lawsuits on porn
Prenda Law
the CD CA called it a :porno-trolling collective” whose business model relied “on deception” and resembled a racketeering enterprise
they basically uploaded porn to bit torrent networks then threatened to sue anyone that downloaded it, or that had their IP address implicated
there was no real plaintiff
threatened public exposure of the Ds downloading porn and would settle for $4,000, or a bit less than the price of defense
always one named defendant that was basically in on it
Steele got 5 years
Hansmeier got 14 years
Always looking for a quick settlement
ADA Lawsuits
ADA/state law, in general, says that all persons are entitled to full and equal accommodations in all business establishments”
These all follow a relatively similar pattern
A plaintiff files suit on behalf of a class arguing that the defendants website cannot be operated by the plaintiff, who is visually impaired
They ask for an extreme amount of money, $30-50,000
But they are willing to settle for far less, often times under 10,000
What do these plaintiff have to prove?
These plaintiffs must have “bona fide intent” to use the D’s services
This leads to some ridiculous examples of blind people wanting to buy guns, cars, etc
There was also a defense as to whether the ADA applied to online businesses, or whether a “brick and mortar” store only fell within the ADA’s “public accommodation” language
This used to be somewhat up in the air
But in August 2022, a CA COA ruled that the CA ADA law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, did not apply to websites.
This practically killed ADA cases in CA, but not in other states (NY, PA, etc).
What should store owners do
WCAG 2.1 standards
People can use screen readers and obtain a phone number to call
Contrast in text
Not ignore lawsuits
