Launey is managing partner of her firm's Sacramento office. She is co-lead of the firm's Americans with Disabilities Act Title III team, which defends businesses accused of discrimination on the basis of disability in the provision of goods and services.
A current focus by plaintiffs is on claims that business defendants violate the disability act by hosting non-compliant sites on the internet, Launey said. "Even though the ADA doesn't mention websites anywhere, over the past couple of years we have seen a very large increase in enforcement actions by the U.S. Department of Justice and advocacy groups like the National Association of the Deaf," she added. "And we've seen a sudden wave of private plaintiffs sending demand letters alleging that company websites violate the ADA. There have been hundreds and hundreds of demand letters filed by a handful of California law firms."
Most contend that company sites are inaccessible to the visually impaired and people with hearing disabilities, she said. "So far, we've kept a majority of our clients from being sued. We call the plaintiff's counsel, talk about the barriers they believe our clients are responsible for, and see if there can be a resolution or a confidential settlement."
There are ways business clients can move toward compliance, Launey said, "but this is a very gray area of the law now. It's become a niche area for me. The U.S. DOJ is charged with putting out regulations on how websites can be ADA-compliant. In 2010, they announced a rulemaking standard, but there has been no actual standard put in place yet."
She said she's learned a lot about how the digital access community — her potential adversaries — expect standards will be set. "This is a regulatory matter that I need to pay attention to," she said. "Defense lawyers and companies don't like uncertainty, but it works for plaintiffs' lawyers who want leverage."
Some websites can move toward better access by making it possible for the visually impaired to get around the screen using the keyboard that lets them hear what's going on, for example. "I do the legal side, but I rely on experts on digital accessibility," she said. "Even most [information technology] people don't know this stuff. Then I counsel clients who want to know whether to wait for official guidance or act now. Most decide to act - it's better to be safe than sorry."
— John Roemer
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