The Supreme Court recently declined to weigh in on a case pertaining to the applicability of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to Domino’s website versus the company’s brick-and-mortar locations. The credit union industry has been at the forefront of an ongoing fight for clarity on the matter on which numerous courts have failed to see eye-to-eye.
Had the high court taken up the case, it could have provided solutions to issues raised by national trade associations representing credit unions – namely the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) and the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) – which have contested several ADA lawsuits against credit unions over the past two years.
The case, filed in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, involved a blind man who claimed Domino’s website did not provide sufficient accommodations to allow him equal access to its products and services, as required under ADA requirements. The appellate court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, despite Domino’s argument that the ADA provision regarding accommodations for people with disabilities does not explicitly apply to websites or mobile applications.
Carrie Hunt, NAFCU’s executive vice president of government affairs and general counsel, told Dodd Frank Update that the Supreme Court’s decision not to evaluate the Domino’s case essentially is a missed opportunity for the court system to offer clarity on ADA requirements at the center of numerous lawsuits against credit unions and other businesses.
“If the Supreme Court had taken up the case, we would have potentially seen some clarity on some of the issues surrounding ADA claims,” Hunt said. “Because of differing lower court opinions, and that the Supreme Court chose not to rule on this matter, we are still in the same place regarding where the statute applies to websites.”
Although the Domino’s case likely would have forced the Supreme Court to address numerous uncertainties surrounding ADA provisions that many courts have looked at, Hunt also noted that some matters, such as the law’s applicability to mobile apps, have not had as robust a treatment.
The Ninth Circuit did, however, rule that ADA liability does not violate the 14th Amendment, that Domino’s was given fair notice that its website and mobile app must comply with ADA requirements and that the trial court would have to determine whether the company’s website is compliant, although private industry standards could be an equitable remedy.
NAFCU has detailed its position on ADA standards in amicus briefs filed in defense of more than 15 credit unions since 2017, as well as in letters to federal regulators and legislators. NAFCU has requested that the Department of Justice issue guidance to offer clarity on the matter and repeatedly written to Congress and state and federal regulators, arguing that ADA regulations should be flexible without compromising protections for the disabled.
Many ADA cases NAFCU has helped fight on behalf of credit unions were dismissed because of lack of standing, because the plaintiff was found to not be a member of the credit union they were suing.
“Most courts have ruled that standing is important and threw those cases out,” Hunt explained. “But, some courts went the other way.”
Hunt said NAFCU has noticed a “lull” in the amount of cases implicating credit unions for alleged ADA violations and attributed that fact to the series of court decisions finding that non-member plaintiffs lacked standing in their suits against credit unions.
NAFCU compiled resources intended to help credit unions with ADA compliance, including a landing page, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and a webcast detailing cost-effective best practices financial entities can take toward ensuring their ADA compliance.
Hunt noted that some institutions have chosen to provide a phone number specifically for people with disabilities and incorporated voice-reading software and other available technical solutions designed to help accommodate disabled people. She noted that many institutions have actively tested their websites and mobile apps in terms of accessibility and ability to perform ADA risk assessments.