The wrong way to deal with an accessibility lawsuit
Literally the worst thing you can do when faced with an accessibility lawsuit is to try to ignore it. Recently a musical instrument shop in Wisconsin found this out the hard way.
Here's the court order that was issued as a result:
"Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment is GRANTED; Default Judgment to be ENTERED in Plaintiff's favor; Plaintiff is ENTITLED to permanent injunctive relief. The Court will RETAIN jurisdiction for 2 years from the date on which the Mutually Agreed Upon Consultant validates that the Digital Platform is free of accessibility errors/violations; Plaintiff to NOTIFY the Court when such validation has occurred. By 4/18/2024, Plaintiff may SUBMIT a petition for reasonable attorney's fees accrued to date. Plaintiff may SUBMIT an additional petition for reasonable attorney's fees accrued in monitoring Defendant's compliance with the permanent injunction within 14 days of final case dismissal."
Why is this so bad? Because no attempt was made to defend the case or to work out a mutually agreeable state of accessibility. The ADA only allows for two things: Reasonable attorney's fees and injunctive relief.
On one hand, you could say "well at least the defendant doesn't have to pay a ridiculous settlement or attorney's", which is true. By avoiding endless back and forth arguing over agreement terms, the defendant is probably getting off really light, monetarily. The big problem is the injunctive relief. "Injunctive Relief", for those who do not know, is a court order. In this case, the court order is "Defendant has to fix their site". In this case, because the plaintiff was awarded a default judgment, they get to completely call the shots on what "fixed" really means. Without any prior agreement on how compliance will be measured, the defendant can be stuck chasing their tail for a very long time.
There's one universal truth when it comes to web accessibility lawsuits: Once lawyers get involved all roads lead to the same destination. You will have to fix your site.
On May 29, 2024, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EST I am giving a webinar titled "You're Getting Sued: What Happens Now?"
Register here:
https://afixt.com/webinars/youre-getting-sued-what-happens-now/
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