This could happen to any Small Business (whether it’s e-commerce or brick and mortar). If It’s time to put an end to this loophole! 

In February 2023 I found out that my small business, a strictly e-commerce company, was being sued in a Federal Court in the Southern District of New York. The suit alleged that this individual was visually impaired and could not access my website. When I dug deeper I found out that this plaintiff has several other suits filed with virtually the same language, against other websites all alleging violations of the American with Disabilities Act. She is a serial plaintiff and works with a lawyer who intimidates small businesses into quick settlements, making millions a year. The majority of these suits are filed by a handful of lawyers. 

There are guidelines set fourth for websites to follow to make it easier for disabled individuals to use with various disability software. Like many other small online retailers, we host on the Shopify platform and use plugins to make our site as accessible as possible, but there will always be incompatibilities depending on what software, browser or device someone uses. This is why there are guidelines and NOT LEGAL requirements. 

These lawsuits are not about disabled people being discriminated against, they are about lawyers taking advantage of a law, twisting it to financially punish small businesses and force them into quick settlements. Unfortunately, most businesses that are hit with these suits opt for quick financial settlements,  that average about $10,000 - $40,000, to avoid a drawn out and expensive legal battle. 

There is a bill that has been put forth in congress, to prevent these types of predatory, drive by lawsuits, but it has not be brought to a vote. We need to push our lawmakers to vote on H.R.241 Access Act sponsored by Rep. Ken Calvert,  and demand that all frivolous lawsuits by serial plaintiffs (and their attorneys) be dismissed. 

Small business owners face tremendous challenges day to day and should be protected from serial litigants trying to exploit laws, like the ADA, for personal gain,” said Rep. Calvert. “We can protect the disabled and small businesses alike by passing the ACCESS Act and giving owners a small window of time to address any ADA issues. Let’s protect disabled Americans without exposing our businesses on Main Street to shakedown lawsuits.” 

"The ACCESS Act would alleviate the financial burden small businesses are facing, while still fulfilling the purpose of the ADA.  Any person aggrieved by a violation of the ADA would provide the owner or operator with a written notice of the violation, specific enough to allow such owner or operator to identify the barrier to their access. Within 60 days the owner or operator would be required to provide the aggrieved person with a description outlining improvements that would be made to address the barrier. The owner or operator would then have 120 days to remove the infraction. The failure to meet any of these conditions would allow the suit to go forward".  Further Information see - https://calvert.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-calvert-introduces-bill-protect-small-businesses-shakedown-lawsuits