Skip to content

Search

Latest Stories

Supreme Court vacates ‘tester lawsuit’ case

The court ruling said the subject of standing for ADA lawsuits filed by plaintiffs who had no intention of staying at the hotel being sued remains open

Supreme Court vacates ‘tester lawsuit’ case

THE U.S. SUPREME Court has “vacated as moot” a case that experts in the hospitality industry said could have set a precedent making it harder to file a “tester lawsuit" against hotels for alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. However, in its decision the court said it may still in the future address the core issue of the case, whether a person can file an ADA lawsuit against a hotel even if they have no intention of staying at that hotel.

The case, Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Laufer, was originally filed by Deborah Laufer against Acheson Hotels in Maine. Laufer had sued saying the hotels in the case had failed to state on their websites whether they had accessible rooms for the disabled.


“After a lower court sanctioned her lawyer, Laufer voluntarily dismissed her pending suits, including her case against Acheson Hotels, LLC, and filed a suggestion of mootness in this court,” the court said. “Though Laufer’s case is moot, the circuit split on the issue briefed and argued in this court is very much alive.”

In her summary of the court’s decision, Justice Amy Coney Barrett said Laufer had established a pattern of filing similar lawsuits.

“Deborah Laufer has sued hundreds of hotels whose websites failed to state whether they have rooms accessible to the disabled. As the sheer number of lawsuits suggests, she does not focus her efforts on hotels where she has any thought of staying, much less booking a room,” Barrett said. “Instead, Laufer systematically searches the web to find hotels that fail to provide accessibility information and sues to force compliance with the ADA.”

Also, in July, Laufer’s lawyer, Tristan Gillespie, was banned from practicing law for defrauding hotels by lying in fee petitions and during settlement negotiations, Barrett wrote. For example, Gillespie demanded $10,000 in attorney’s fees per case while using “boilerplate complaints” and he paid the father of Laufer’s grandchild for investigatory work that he never performed.

But it was the matter of standing that brought the case to the Supreme Court, Barrett said.

“Laufer has singlehandedly generated a circuit split,” Barrett said. “The Second, Fifth, and Tenth Circuits have held that she lacks standing; the First, Fourth, and Eleventh Circuits have held that she has it. We took this case from the First Circuit to resolve the split.”

In the end, though, Laufer voluntarily dismissed her pending suits but still asked the court to rule on the idea of the lawsuit’s standing in the courts, Barrett said. However, the justice said the court chose not to do so.

“We are sensitive to Acheson’s concern about litigants manipulating the jurisdiction of this Court. We are not convinced, however, that Laufer abandoned her case in an effort to evade our review,” Barrett said. “She voluntarily dismissed her pending ADA cases after a lower court sanctioned her lawyer. She represented to this court that she will not file any others. Laufer’s case against Acheson is moot, and we dismiss it on that ground. We emphasize, however, that we might exercise our discretion differently in a future case.”

All eyes were on this case

In the August issue of Asian Hospitality, Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, and Laura Lee Blake, president and CEO of AAHOA said the Acheson case held the greatest potential for establishing legal control over tester lawsuits, also known as “drive-by” or “click-by” lawsuits.

“I think most everybody is looking at this Supreme Court case,” Rogers said. “Years ago, when I was at AAHOA, we were able to support legislation in the House of Representatives and effectively pass the House but never had a hearing in the Senate. That would have allowed a cure period. If someone accuses you of violating the ADA, you would have been given an opportunity to correct anything if that was in fact not within the ADA standards. That was the furthest that any piece of legislation had ever made it.”

Blake held a similar opinion of the importance of the case.

“Given the increasing ADA lawsuits that have been filed against hotels, this is an important case because it could potentially limit the types of litigants and claims that will be allowed,” Blake said.

In a statement following the Supreme Court’s decision to declare the case moot, Rogers said the decision still sends a message to serial ADA lawsuit filers.

“Tester lawsuits, in which plaintiffs file hundreds of legal complaints against hotels seeking quick settlements, have become a cottage industry in the United States. In this case, a hotel decided to fight this scheme and in doing so shed light on the extortive practice,” Rogers said. “The Americans with Disabilities Act is a critical civil rights law, but this case was never about legal compliance. It was about whether serial litigants with no intention of becoming hotel guests have standing to sue hotels. While we would have welcomed a broader ruling, the Supreme Court today sent a message to other serial litigants against ‘manipulating the jurisdiction of the [Supreme Court],’ and revealed how the court ‘might exercise its discretion differently in a future case.’ Because Acheson and the hotel industry fought back, the plaintiff dismissed hundreds of suits against hotels and vowed to the court she would never again bring these types of claims. This will bring some solace to small business hoteliers who for years have been victimized by drive-by and click-by tester lawsuits.”

More for you

Hilton

Hilton posts unit growth as Q2 RevPAR slips

Summary:

  • Hilton reported 7.5 percent net unit growth in the second quarter while systemwide RevPAR declined 0.5 percent year-over-year.
  • Net income and adjusted EBITDA for the first half of 2025 were $742 million and $1.8 billion, up from $690 million and $1.67 billion YoY.
  • For the third quarter of 2025, Hilton expects systemwide RevPAR to be flat to slightly down.

HILTON WORDLWIDE HOLDINGS reported 7.5 percent net unit growth in the second quarter of 2025, however systemwide RevPAR declined 0.5 percent year-over-year. The company said economic fluctuations are being felt but not hindering performance.

Keep ReadingShow less
Peachtree Group loan
Photo credit: Peachtree Group

Peachtree backs $42M loan for AFC deal

Summary:

  • Peachtree provided a $42 million floating-rate loan to Banyan Street Capital for the acquisition and repositioning of Atlanta Financial Center in Buckhead.
  • The deal delivers capital at a reset basis, with comps pricing 98 percent higher, reflecting strong collateral and execution.
  • It recently launched a $250 million fund to invest in hotel and commercial assets mispriced from market illiquidity.

PEACHTREE GROUP PROVIDED its first mortgage loan to Banyan Street Capital for the acquisition and repositioning of the 914,774-square-foot Atlanta Financial Center in Buckhead, Georgia. Peachtree said the office sector is at an inflection point, similar to the retail segment previously.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump’s Proposed Visa Fee Threatens Seasonal Hospitality Workforce

Report: Trump visa fee sparks summer staffing fears

Summary:

  • Trump’s proposed $250 Visa Integrity Fee faces pushback from groups relying on seasonal J-1 workers from Latin America and Asia.
  • J-1 visa holders often work as housekeepers, amusement park staff, and lifeguards from pre-season through Labor Day; more than 300,000 use the visa annually.
  • DHS and the State Department have not clarified how the fee will be implemented or who qualifies for a refund.

A $250 VISA Integrity Fee in President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill is drawing criticism from groups that rely on seasonal workers from Latin America and Asia on J-1 and other visas, Newsweek reported. The organizations warn the cost, though sometimes refundable, could reduce the summer workforce that supports U.S. beach towns and resorts.

Keep ReadingShow less
Wyndham & Grubhub Offer Free Delivery to Guests & Staff

Wyndham, Grubhub offer free delivery to guests, staff

Summary:

  • Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is partnering with Grubhub to offer free product delivery to guests and staff at nearly 6,000 U.S. hotels across 20 brands.
  • A Grubhub account is required to activate the complimentary Grubhub+ membership; no credit card is needed and the membership does not auto-renew.
  • Wyndham recently deployed Elavon’s cloud payments interface to more than 6,000 U.S. and Canadian franchisees.

WYNDHAM HOTELS & RESORTS and Grubhub, an online ordering and delivery platform, will offer item delivery to guests and staff with no delivery fees and other benefits. The service is available at nearly 6,000 U.S. hotels across 20 brands, with orders placed through the Grubhub app on-site or by scanning a hotel QR code.

Keep ReadingShow less
U.S. Hotel Construction Hits 20-Quarter Low in June

CoStar: Hotel construction drops in June

Summary:

  • U.S. hotel rooms under construction fell year over year for the sixth straight month in June, hitting a 20-quarter low, CoStar reported.
  • About 138,922 rooms were under construction, down 11.9 percent from June 2024; the luxury segment had 6,443 rooms, up 4.1 percent year over year.
  • Lodging Econometrics recently said Dallas led all U.S. markets in hotel construction pipelines at the end of the first quarter, with 203 projects and 24,496 rooms.

THE NUMBER OF U.S. hotel rooms under construction declined year over year for the sixth straight month in June, reaching a 20-quarter low, according to CoStar. Additionally, more than half of all rooms under development are in the South, mostly outside the top 25 markets.

Keep ReadingShow less