6th ADA Case Dismissed in Virginia

A Virginia District Court judge has dismissed another lawsuit that alleged a credit union’s website violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, marking the sixth such case to be thrown out of U.S. District Courts in Virginia.

District Judge Michael Urbanski found that because the plaintiff did not demonstrate any intent or eligibility to use the services of Roanoke, Va.-based Roanoke Valley Community Credit Union, he had no standing to sue the credit union.

The plaintiff, who originally brought the suit back in October 2017 and has sued at least 30 other credit unions over similar issues, claimed that Roanoke Valley Community’s website lacked text that allowed screen readers to verbally describe the site’s graphics, contained redundant links that created navigation problems for blind users and had empty or missing form labels, which made the site more cumbersome for blind users.

Roanoke Valley Community Credit Union, which has $90 million in assets and about 6,900 members, asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that websites aren’t places of public accommodation subject to the ADA and that the plaintiff didn’t have standing to sue.

The judge focused on the second part, noting that the plaintiff was a resident of Fairfax County, Virginia, which is more than 200 miles from Roanoke. The judge also noted that the plaintiff never claimed any connection to the Roanoke area, to an existing member or to membership eligibility.

“[The plaintiff] does not allege that he actually uses or plans to use RVCCU’S services. And it is implausible that he would travel more than 200 miles to visit a RVCCU physical location when he has never done so before, has no immediate plans to do so, and falls outside RVCCU’S limited membership field,” the judge wrote.

Woody Windley, who is president and CEO of Roanoke Valley Community Credit Union, said in an email to CU Times that he was glad the credit union didn’t settle.

“It was worth the effort and saved us money in the end,” he said. “Before we decided to fight, I discussed with our consultants at CUSAG, LLC and they gave us info on how others were fairing nationally. My board of directors supported this decision. Great team including our attorneys, Jackson Lewis P.C., Carrie Hunt with NAFCU, and CUNA Mutual.”

Though the majority of the 100+ ADA lawsuits CU Times has been tracking for almost a year have settled out of court or were otherwise withdrawn, some credit unions have fought. U.S. District Court judges have ended up dismissing cases against 1st Advantage Federal Credit Union, ABNB Federal Credit Union, Washington Gas Light Federal Credit Union, Northwest Federal Credit Union and Department of Labor Federal Credit Union. Multiple ADA suits are still active in at least 11 other states.

“NAFCU and its members strongly support the protections of the ADA and efforts to ensure individuals with disabilities are not discriminated against and have equal access to financial services. However, this is best achieved through clear guidance and standards for website compliance, not through meritless and costly lawsuits,” the organization said in an announcement about the decision.

“This is the sixth complaint we have seen dismissed against a NAFCU-supported credit union and we are pleased to see the courts recognizing that these plaintiffs have no standing,” NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger added. “We will continue to defend our members against these meritless lawsuits.”

Yorktown, Va.-based 1st Advantage has $691 million in assets and about 61,000 members; Chesapeake, Va.-based ABNB has $571 million in assets and about 57,000 members. Washington Gas Light, which is headquartered in Springfield, Va., has $117 million in assets and about 8,300 members. Northwest Federal, headquartered in Herndon, Va., has $3.4 billion in assets and about 258,000 members. Washington, D.C.-based Department of Labor Federal Credit Union has $90 million in assets and about 6,900 members.