AH_224_Dec-Jan-2024
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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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