Today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued one decision:
Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Laufer, No. 22-429: Deborah Laufer sued hundreds of hotels under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., for failing to state on their websites whether they have accessible rooms for the disabled. Laufer’s suits “singlehandedly generated a circuit split” on a plaintiff’s standing to sue a hotel in federal court when the plaintiff has no plans to stay at or book a room with the hotel. The Second, Fifth, and Tenth Circuits held that Laufer lacked standing to sue in federal court because she was not injured by the absence of information about hotel rooms she had no plans to reserve. The First, Fourth, and Eleventh Circuit held that Laufer did have standing. The Court took the case from the First Circuit to resolve the split. After the Court granted review, a federal district court suspended Laufer’s lawyer from the practice of law for defrauding hotels by lying in fee petitions and in settlement negotiations. Laufer voluntarily dismissed her pending suits with prejudice and represented to the Court that she would not file any other cases. Laufer also filed a suggestion of mootness with the Court, arguing that the Court can address jurisdictional issues in any order it chooses and had the authority to resolve the circuit split on standing. Today, in a 9-0 decision authored by Justice Barrett, the Court vacated the case as moot and remanded to the First Circuit with instructions to dismiss the case as moot. Justices Thomas and Jackson filed opinions concurring in the judgment.
Read the full decision.
