WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday considers whether a disability rights campaigner can sue hotels for failing to disclose accessibility information if she doesn’t plan to actually book a room.
The case involving activist Deborah Laufer could curtail the ability of “testers” to bring lawsuits aimed at benefitting the disabled community as a whole by ensuring that hotels comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, known as the ADA.
The court is hearing oral arguments in an appeal brought by Acheson Hotels, which operates the Coast Village Inn and Cottages in Maine. The hotel’s lawyers argued that Laufer does not have legal standing to bring the cases because she has no intention of staying at the hotels.
Laufer has failed to show that she suffered an injury, a requirement necessary to establish standing, the hotel’s lawyers argued.
The Biden administration has sided with the hotel on that point in a brief filed in the case, with Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar writing that, by only viewing hotel information, Laufer had not suffered an injury.
But Prelogar defended the ability of testers to enforce civil rights laws more generally, citing a 1982 case in which the Supreme Court upheld the ability of testers to bring lawsuits challenging housing discrimination.
Laufer, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair, said in her 2020 lawsuit that the hotel’s website did not identify accessible rooms and did not provide other relevant information.
A federal district court threw out the lawsuit on standing grounds, but in a 2022 ruling the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived Laufer’s claim.
Acheson’s lawyers noted in court filings that Laufer has filed more than 600 lawsuits targeting small hotels and bed-and-breakfasts. Litigation costs can be substantial for small businesses facing such claims, they said.
Laufer’s lawyers countered in their own court papers that the language of the ADA allows for anyone who is disabled and therefore subject to discrimination on that basis to sue if an entity has violated the law.
Without such lawsuits, hotels would have no incentive to comply with the ADA, the lawyers said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
