Credit unions, Leagues and CUNA have been pushing the federal government, federal legislators, the Department of Justice, the court systems and attorneys general around the country to bring an end to the ambiguity surrounding the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) website rules. These coordinated efforts around the country are designed to help put an end to the frivolous lawsuits regarding claims of website noncompliance with ADA, and efforts continue. The most recent actions were that CUNA and the state CU leagues of Wisconsin and Illinois filed an amicus brief on December 20th in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. The brief was submitted in support of a credit union facing a lawsuit related to ADA website accessibility, and is similar to the amicus brief action filed here in Georgia in September.
All of these efforts have seen a recent ray of hope; on January 3rd the Fourth Circuit of Appeals ruled in favor of Department of Labor Federal Credit Union (DOL FCU) related to a frivolous ADA lawsuit alleging website noncompliance – the panel of federal appeals court judges determined the plaintiff lacked standing. While this type of effort takes time (the amicus brief in support of the credit union was filed by CUNA last year) this is positive not only for the decision in favor of the credit union, but that this landmark decision would provide binding legal precedent in states under the Fourth Circuit’s jurisdiction. And, this case is especially significant because it is the first credit union-specific ADA case to be decided at the appellate level.
