In this section, we break down ADA lawsuit statistics by state, on a year-over-year basis. We provide a broad overview of the topics covered in this class, so that business owners can begin to understand the scope of the ADA issues that face them, and the likelihood of being sued for ADA violatio...

In this section, we start our discussion of what the ADA is and who it is meant to protect. American businesses are required to make certain accommodations to disabled individuals, or otherwise risk being sued without warning. We review who is considered disabled under the law, and who must be ac...

In this section, we review which businesses the ADA requirements apply to, and those businesses that the requirements do not apply to. The ADA does not cover every American business or every physical location in which businesses are located. There is a specific list of covered businesses, which t...

In this section, we discuss actual ADA requirements. Now that we have reviewed who is disabled, and which businesses are covered by the ADA, the next question is what the law requires of covered businesses in relation to the disabled. Here we discuss the types of ADA accommodations (physical barr...

In this section, we dive right into the substance of what is required to comply with the ADA. As part of our review, we discuss where to find the rules, and how the rules are organized and laid out. We discuss how to navigate the regulations to find the specific ADA rules that may apply to any sp...

In this section, we continue our discussion regarding issues that very commonly appear in ADA lawsuits filed against businesses, including the number of required accessible parking spaces, the required dimensions of accessible parking spaces, accessible aisles, and accessible pathways. These are ...

In this section, we dive into exceptions to full compliance with ADA requirements. This includes perhaps the most important topic for business buildings that pre-date the ADA – the “readily achievable” standard. Strict compliance with ADA rules for existing buildings is only required when it is “...

In this section, we discuss policies that are required by the ADA, as well as those instances in which changing policies to accommodate the disabled is not required. Policies that may be required by law are very broad and we discuss the specific language governing policy changes, as well as some ...

In this section, we get to a topic that should be of interest to any business that has a website (and does not want to be sued) – ADA website compliance. This falls within the broader topic of “auxiliary aids and services” that the law requires to be provided to the disabled (such as, for example...

In this section, we cover the reasons why so many of these lawsuits are filed against American businesses, and what a disabled plaintiff can hope to achieve by suing a business for ADA noncompliance. This includes coverage of the injunctions that disabled plaintiffs seek against businesses that t...

In this section, we cover the fact that thousands of these lawsuits are filed by a relatively small number of disabled plaintiffs, often referred to as serial lawsuit filers, or “tester plaintiffs.” The concept of the tester lawsuit in the civil rights context is discussed, including how it has t...

In this section, we discuss some final issues, including ways for businesses to check whether they are ADA compliant (other than looking up the rules themselves), and certain benefits and advantages of becoming ADA compliant (other than avoiding lawsuits) such as creating access for disabled indi...

In the bonus materials, we review actual ADA lawsuits that have been filed in court, and we track the allegations to demonstrate how they line up with the topics and issues discussed throughout this class. We also review actual court-filed defenses in ADA cases, and we compare those to the exempt...