Philip J Catanzano is Senior Counsel in Holland & Knight's Boston office
In Haynes v. Dunkin' Donuts LLC, No. 18-10373, 2018 WL 3634720 (11th Cir. July 31, 2018), a blind plaintiff sued Dunkin' Donuts, alleging that its public-facing website, www.dunkindonuts.com, was not compatible with "his, or any, screen reading software." The parties agreed that Dunkin' Donuts is a "public accommodation," subject to Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §1218 et. seq. The plaintiff's legal theory was that, as a public accommodation, Dunkin' Donuts failed to maintain an accessible website. The district court dismissed the claim because the plaintiff had "failed to allege a nexus between the barriers to access that he faced on the website and his inability to access goods and services" in the physical stores. On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court and remanded for further proceedings, holding that the ADA's prohibition on discrimination was not limited to "tangible barriers" and "can extend to intangible barriers" like public-facing websites, too. While the district court focused on the plaintiff's ability to access the brick-and-mortar storefront for his coffee-drinking needs, the Eleventh Circuit highlighted the plaintiff's allegations that the website also helps people find store locations and purchase gift cards online, benefits that would seemingly be denied to blind people unable to navigate the inaccessible website. As restaurants move more of their services online, e.g., mobile ordering, online menus and store finder navigation tools, increased scrutiny can be expected from litigants and potentially the federal government.
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