The Supreme Court will consider the strength of the Americans with Disabilities Act on Wednesday when it hears a dispute over whether a self-appointed “tester” of the civil rights law has the right to sue hotels over alleged violations of its provisions.
How the justices rule could have a significant impact on the practical effectiveness of the landmark legislation, which aims to shield individuals with disabilities from discrimination in public accommodations and a host of other settings.
At the center of the dispute is Deborah Laufer, a disability rights advocate who has brought hundreds of lawsuits against hotels she says are not in compliance with ADA rules requiring hotels to disclose information about how accessible they are to individuals with disabilities.
Laufer, a Florida resident who uses a wheelchair and has a visual impairment, doesn’t intend to visit the hotels she’s suing. Instead, the complaints are made in an effort to force the hotels to update their websites to be in compliance with the law. Legal experts say the strategy, known as “testing,” is necessary to ensure enforcement of the historic law.
Are you implying that this case, where businesses are in clear violation of the ADA (aka “the law”, and were undoubtedly approached and asked to correct this before it escalated to a law suit) has as little standing as, is as frivolous as, or is comparable in any way at all, to a case where a bigot literally made up shit to try and game the system to set a bigoted precedent?
Eh?
I’m saying you can now sue even if you’re not disabled. Just go for it.
No, don’t, because frivolous law suits like the one you were comparing this to will only harm people making legit claims, who already have a hard enough time being taken seriously.