WASHINGTON—The House is expected to vote today on legislation to address public accessibility concerns under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Both credit union trade associations said they have been engaging with lawmakers for months on the issue in order to expand some of the bill's protections to help curb what NAFCU referred to as the “meritless lawsuits” filed against credit unions for website accessibility under the ADA.
The ADA Education and Reform Act (HR 620), introduced by Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) was advanced out of the House Rules Committee this week with a vote by the full House to come this week.
The bill as written applies to brick-and-mortar businesses and would set conditions for filing civil actions over the failure to remove an architectural barrier to an existing public place, among other things. NAFCU noted it has met with Poe and other representatives to try to expand some of the bill's protections as credit unions and other financial institutions have faced a rash of lawsuits over the past year related to website accessibility requirements, a topic CUToday.info has extensively covered.
Four amicus briefs submitted by NAFCU have been accepted to support credit unions' motions to dismiss complaints filed against them in federal district court.
“One of those cases became a victory for credit unions last month as the court found that the plaintiff to such a lawsuit did not have standing to sue the credit union because he was not eligible for membership and would not likely use the credit union's services. In addition, the court indicated that a website is not a place of public accommodation, thus certain ADA protections were not triggered,” NAFCU noted.