DOVER, Ohio—CUNA and the Ohio Credit Union League Tuesday filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio defending a credit union hit with a lawsuit alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
This is the latest of multiple briefs CUNA has filed in conjunction with state leagues in similar cases, including Texas and Illinois, CUNA noted.
As CUToday.info has extensively reported, credit unions across the nation have been hit with a rash of ADA lawsuits that allege CUs’ websites are out of compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
“CUNA and the Ohio Credit Union League filed this brief as part of the continuing defense of credit unions facing lawsuits exploiting a law designed to protect disabled Americans,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “These lawsuits are meritless and harmful to credit unions and the communities these institutions serve. We will continue to analyze lawsuits around the country to see where CUNA/league defense of unfairly targeted credit unions can have the greatest impact.”
“As the state and federal credit union trade associations serving Ohio credit unions, the Ohio league and CUNA believe it is important to assist Ohio credit unions that have chosen the path of proceeding with litigation in the hopes of creating favorable case law in the Sixth Circuit,” said Ohio Credit Union League President Paul Mercer. “We continue to explore additional opportunities to leverage legal, legislative, and regulatory means to positively and strategically halt nuisance, predatory litigators from continuing to exploit the good intentions of the Americans With Disabilities Act.”
In the joint Amicus brief, CUNA and the Ohio Credit Union League support Dover-Phila Federal Credit Union's Motion to Dismiss based on the following claims:
- The plaintiff lacks standing to file suit against the credit union
- A website is not a place of public accommodation
- Applying Title III of the ADA to websites renders the statute impermissibly vague in the absence of any implementing regulations by the Department of Justice
- The court should dismiss the complaint pursuant to the Primary Jurisdiction Doctrine