ALERT: ADA WEBSITE LAWSUITS ARE BEING FILED AGAINST HOTEL OWNERS IN GEORGIA
We’d like to make our clients and other hotel owners aware of a new wave of Americans with Disabilities Act (the “ADA”) lawsuits that are being filed in the state of Georgia, more particularly in the city of Atlanta and its suburbs. These ADA lawsuits are different than the so called “drive-by” lawsuits that have become popular in the last few years. Those types of ADA lawsuits target the condition of the real estate property of businesses that may fail to live up to the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
These new slew of ADA lawsuits are focused on hotels and hotel listings on third-party websites, such as expedia.com, hotels.com, etc. The plaintiff in these lawsuits claims that she went to these third-party websites in order to view the accessible amenities and accessible rooms available at the defendant’s hotel. The suit alleges that the third-party website reservations systems fail to provide information about the accessible amenities of the hotel, including its rooms, to persons with disabilities. The plaintiff claims that she was unable to determine whether the property contained accessible amenities, whether the hotel had accessible rooms available to book, and/or the listing did not allow for the booking of accessible rooms. These allegations, if true, are a violation of the ADA and carry monetary penalties in the form of the award of attorney’s fees to the plaintiff.
These ADA websites lawsuits stem from a firm out of Florida which has a pretty much blanketed that state with ADA website lawsuits. That firm has not hired local counsel and decided to target hotel owners here in Georgia. The firm has now filed over 50 lawsuits against hotel owners.
It’s very important for hotel owners to review these various third-party websites that their hotels appear on and to make sure that they are in compliance with ADA. Specifically, these lawsuits claim that the defendant violated 28 C.F.R. Section 36.302(e)(1), which states “a public accommodation that owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of lodging shall, with respect to reservations made by any means, including by telephone, in-person, or through a third party” must (i) “ensure that individuals with disabilities can make reservations for accessible guest rooms”… “in the same manner as individuals who do not need accessible rooms”; (ii) “Identify and describe accessible features in the hotels and guest rooms offered through its reservations service in enough detail to reasonably permit individuals with disabilities to assess independently whether a given hotel or guest room meets his or her accessibility needs”; (iii) “Ensure that accessible guest rooms are held for use by individuals with disabilities until all other guest rooms of that type have been rented and the accessible room requested is the only remaining room of that type”; (iv) “Reserve, upon request, accessible guest rooms or specific types of guest rooms and ensure that the guest rooms requested are blocked and removed from all reservations systems”; and (v) “Guarantee that the specific accessible guest room reserved through its reservations service is held for the reserving customer, regardless of whether a specific room is held in response to reservations made by others.”
The lawsuits focus on violations of subsections (i-iii) above. A few ways to make sure your hotel listing is not in violation of the ADA is to ensure that each third-party website that lists your hotel actually displays the accessible rooms available to rent, so that a person with a disability can actually book these rooms through third-party websites The listing should also display the accessible features or amenities of the accessible rooms and the property, so that a person with a disability can determine if the property has accessible features to allow the individual to determine whether a hotel or the property meets his or her needs.
The hotel owner must log in to their account on the third-party website and view the settings of each and every third-party website that lists their hotel as available for booking. The hotel owner should also review the list of possible features and amenities that the third-party allows the hotel owner to check off and make sure that each and every one of the hotel’s accessible features is listed. This includes whether there are roll-in showers, braille signage, a lift if the hotel has a swimming pool, elevators, escalators, etc. The hotel owner must review the settings of each account to ensure that the third-party website will allow their listing to display the number of ADA-compliant rooms that their hotel has and allow a visitor to book such a room through the third-party site. Certain franchisors and/or third party websites do not allow hotels to list that they have accessible rooms unless the hotel contains a minimum of 3 accessible rooms. It has come to our attention that some franchisors have lifted this restriction, while others have kept them in place. Our suggestion is to remove your listing from a third-party site if it does not allow someone to book an accessible room. We know that removing listings from third-party sites will reduce the traffic and number of rooms booked at your hotel, but if the third-party site cannot accurately display your available accessible rooms or features, then you are vulnerable to ADA lawsuits under 28 C.F.R. Section 36.302(e)(1). The third-party sites that we have seen listed in these ADA website lawsuits include expedia.com, booking.com, hotels.com, orbitz.com, priceline.com, and agoda.com.
We have discussed these ADA website lawsuits with some franchisors, many franchisees, and Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), Franchisors have taken steps to make sure that their own websites are compliant with the ADA; however, not many have addressed third-party website. It has become clear that the franchisors are not willing to indemnify or protect their franchisees when it comes to third-party websites. According to the court filings by the same law firm from Florida, if seems like they are just getting started with no signs of slowing down. It’s imperative that hotel owners take this issue seriously as we have already defended a number of the ADA lawsuits.
If you have been served with an ADA lawsuit, it is imperative to retain counsel to review the lawsuit and attempt to settle the matter for as low as possible. The ADA is a wonderful act that has protected those with disabilities, but it has been abused by attorneys that want to make a quick buck. The ADA allows the award of attorney’s fees if a defendant is found in violation, and due to the loose drafting of the ADA, almost every defendant that is sued is in violation of at least one provision. The longer you wait to address the lawsuit, the more the plaintiff’s attorney’s fees will accrue, so it is in your best interest to attempt to settle as early as possible. We have seen courts award attorney’s fees between $10,000.00 to $20,000.00 in cases where a default judgment was entered because the hotel owner ignored the lawsuit. We have negotiated favorable settlements for our clients in defending ADA lawsuits. Call us today at 770-881-8081 if you have been served with an ADA lawsuit.