ANN ARBOR TOWNSHIP, Mich.–The nation’s credit unions will be paying close attention to Domino’s Pizza, and it has nothing to do with whether their orders arrive in 30 minutes or less.
Instead, Domino’s has filed a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to accept a case involving whether its website is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The filing comes at the same time credit unions will be on hand for a hearing in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati today for an ADA case involving two Michigan credit unions. Domino’s writ can be found here.
The issue at hand is the same as that facing numerous credit unions that have been sued by plaintiffs alleging they have violated the ADA because their websites deny access to the blind.
The 30-year-old law was written with physical facilities in mind and prior to the advent of websites. Nevertheless, plaintiffs, and more specifically law firms that have filed numerous suits, allege the ADA’s provisions around “public accommodation” should also apply to websites, such as those of credit unions and Domino’s Pizza.
Cases Against CUs
Credit unions have seen cases filed against them dismissed in two Courts of Appeal, primarily on the issue of the plaintiff’s standing to sue the CUs. But the courts have been divided. The Ninth Circuit, where Domino’s was originally sued, has ruled the ADA applies to the pizza company’s website and app because it also has actual locations in the market where the case was filed.
A great deal hangs in the balance for credit unions and other businesses should the Supreme Court hear the case and issue a ruling.
“If the court were to decide that the ADA doesn’t apply online, it would contradict rulings in other contexts acknowledging the web as an intertwined aspect of American life, part and parcel of reality, not divisible or abstracted at all,” noted an analysis by Quartz.com. “If the court decides that the ADA does apply, however, every business and service in the U.S. will risk liability if it doesn’t render its web pages, links, videos, gifs, and images readable to all—that means major expenses and lots of labor and continual work updating content. Domino’s claims that such a ruling will deter new businesses and drive others off the web.
‘Very Large Impact’
“For all internet users, the conclusion of this matter could have a very large impact on the future of the web,” the analysis continued. “If sites are public accommodations that must provide equal access and providing this proves taxing on the businesses and institutions who operate in whole or in part online, as Domino’s claims it will be, we could all theoretically see a more sparse web with information updated less frequently or the complexity of offerings simplified. In other words, this case is about much more than one blind man’s custom pizza delivery order and that’s why Domino’s says the Supreme Court must step in.”
The Domino’s case was originally filed by Guillermo Robles, a blind customer who could not, using special software, order a pizza from the Domino’s website or app directly.
Domino’s has argued the suit is part of a “flood of litigation that will soon turn into a tsunami” if the high court doesn’t clear up confusion about whether websites that serve the public must comply with the ADA and to what extent.