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www.asianhospitality.com

8 ASIAN HOSPITALITY DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024

he U.S. Supreme Court in

December “vacated as moot” a

case that experts in the hospitality

industry said could have set a precedent

making it harder to file a “tester lawsuit”

against hotels for alleged violations of

the Americans with Disabilities Act of

1990. However, in its decision the court

said it may still in the future address the

core issue of the case, whether a person

can file an ADA lawsuit against a hotel

even if they have no intention of staying

at that hotel.

The case, Acheson Hotels, LLC v.

Laufer, was originally filed by Deborah

Laufer against Acheson Hotels in Maine.

Laufer had sued saying the hotels in the

case had failed to state on their websites

whether they had accessible rooms for

the disabled.

“After a lower court sanctioned her

lawyer, Laufer voluntarily dismissed

her pending suits, including her case

against Acheson Hotels, LLC, and filed

a suggestion of mootness in this court,”

the court said. “Though Laufer’s case

is moot, the circuit split on the issue

briefed and argued in this court is very

much alive.”

In her summary of the court’s decision,

Justice Amy Coney Barrett said Laufer

had established a pattern of filing similar

lawsuits.

“Deborah Laufer has sued hundreds

of hotels whose websites failed to state

whether they have rooms accessible to

the disabled. As the sheer number of

lawsuits suggests, she does not focus

her efforts on hotels where she has any

thought of staying, much less booking a

room,” Barrett said.

In the end, though, Laufer voluntarily

dismissed her pending suits but still

asked the court to rule on the idea of the

lawsuit’s standing in the courts, Barrett

said. However, the justice said the court

chose not to do so.

“We are sensitive to Acheson’s

concern about litigants manipulating

the jurisdiction of this Court. We are

not convinced, however, that Laufer

abandoned her case in an effort to evade

our review,” Barrett said. “She voluntarily

dismissed her pending ADA cases after

a lower court sanctioned her lawyer. She

represented to this court that she will

not file any others. Laufer’s case against

Acheson is moot, and we dismiss it on

that ground. We emphasize, however,

that we might exercise our discretion

differently in a future case.”

All eyes were on this case

In a statement following the Supreme

Court’s decision to declare the case

moot, Chip Rogers, president and CEO

of the American Hotel & Lodging

Association, said the decision still sends

a message to serial ADA lawsuit filers.

“Tester lawsuits, in which plaintiffs

file hundreds of legal complaints against

hotels seeking quick settlements, have

become a cottage industry in the United

States. In this case, a hotel decided to

fight this scheme and in doing so shed

light on the extortive practice,” Rogers

said. “The Americans with Disabilities

Act is a critical civil rights law, but this

case was never about legal compliance.

It was about whether serial litigants

with no intention of becoming hotel

guests have standing to sue hotels. While

we would have welcomed a broader

ruling, the Supreme Court today sent a

message to other serial litigants against

‘manipulating the jurisdiction of the

[Supreme Court],’ and revealed how

the court ‘might exercise its discretion

differently in a future case.’ Because

Acheson and the hotel industry fought

back, the plaintiff dismissed hundreds

of suits against hotels and vowed to the

court she would never again bring these

types of claims. This will bring some

solace to small business hoteliers who

for years have been victimized by drive-

by and click-by tester lawsuits.”

Supreme Court vacates

‘tester lawsuit’ case

The court ruling said the subject of standing for ADA lawsuits filed by plaintiffs who had

no intention of staying at the hotel being sued remains open

The U.S. Supreme Court has “vacated as moot” a case that experts in the hospitality industry said could

have set a precedent making it harder to file a “tester” lawsuit against hotels for alleged violations of the

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The court said the core issue of the case, whether a person can

file an ADA lawsuit against a hotel even if they have no intention of staying at that hotel, remains open.

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