L&E Group Obtains Voluntary Dismissal in ADA Title III Cases

Spencer Kinderman and Sean Pierce recently obtained the dismissal of two Americans with Disabilities (ADA) website accessibility lawsuits brought against two Alabama credit unions by a plaintiff who is visually-impaired in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. California Plaintiff’s counsel, Pacific Trial Attorneys, sued HKH’s two clients based on the novel theory that credit union websites were required to comply with the ADA when neither Congress nor the U.S. Department of Justice has taken such a position, and notwithstanding that various federal appellate courts throughout the U.S. have issued inconsistent rulings on the ADA’s applicability to business websites. In the cases involving HKH’s clients, Plaintiff’s counsel advanced the argument that the credit unions’ participation in the Co-Op™ Shared Branch network created liability on the individual credit union’s part. This was a first-of-its-kind argument nationally and, after HKH filed Motions to Dismiss, Plaintiff’s counsel elected to voluntarily dismiss these cases rather than face exposure to the attorney’s fees and costs HKH was seeking for its clients.