On April 26, 2017, a Federal District Court in California dismissed a lawsuit filed by a plaintiff against Domino’s Pizza, LLC (“Domino’s”) (Robles v. Domino’s Pizza, LLC, see http://bit.ly/2s1hUJ7) on the basis that the U.S Department of Justice (“DOJ”) failed to issue specific website accessibility guidelines and therefore, the court held that the defendant, Domino’s, could not be held liable for a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended in 2008 by the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act, (collectively, the “ADA”), when no such guidelines or specific rules exist.
The Americans With Disability Act
The ADA was enacted to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. The ADA’s general rule provides that “[n]o individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation.” The National Association of Realtors® (“NAR”) explains that the “…ADA specifically aims to end discrimination by private entities that operate a ‘place of public accommodation,’ and requires that any existing architectural and communication barriers be removed (where such removal is readily achievable and would not cause undue hardship to the entity) so that disabled persons are provided equal participation and benefits.” (See http://bit.ly/2r3Edcq). The “communication barriers” (like the
“architectural barriers”) must be removed by all entities that operate a website which is considered to be a “place of public accommodation” under the ADA.
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