More than 30 new ADA suits were filed against credit unions lastmonth over the accessibility of their websites, likely makingit a “December to remember” for many in the credit unionindustry.

The surge brings the total number of suits filed to more than 60so far. Credit unions in nine states have been served, according tocourt records.

Sources tell CU Times that demand letters, whichtypically precede the suits, have landed on the doorsteps of evenmore credit unions.

Pacific Northwest Ironworkers Federal Credit Union is one ofthem, according to CEO Teri Robinson. Based in Portland, Ore., thecredit union, which has $26 million in assets and about 5,100members, received a demand letter in November, she said.

“I actually got a call from another credit union first,”Robinson said. That credit union had already received a demandletter, she recalled. “I was kind of trying to talk them off theledge about it, but he and I were both thinking it wasn't a bigdeal because we're both closed fields of membership…then a weeklater, I got mine,” she said.

The recent wave of legal activity around the Americans withDisabilities Act isn't a new phenomenon, said John Bredehoft, whois an attorney specializing in credit unions at Kaufman &Canoles in Norfolk, Virginia. Kaufman & Canoles representssome of the credit unions named in the suits.

Several years ago, lots of ADA suits were filed against shoppingcenters over their parking lots and restroom access, Bredehoftrecalled.

“We dealt with that, and some people had to restripe theirparking lots and a couple of folks had to change the way that theirflushers flushed. And then that receded,” he said. “This I think isthe next rush of that.”

However, the shopping center cases involved very specific ADAguidelines about what had to be in place. Not so with the currentbatch of litigation, Bredehoft noted.

The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability forequal enjoyment of goods, services, facilities, privileges,advantages or accommodations in public places. According tothe complaints, plaintiffs in the credit union cases have claimedthat, among other things, failing to embed code that allows screenreaders to vocalize descriptions of graphics on credit unionwebsites, as well as having redundant links and empty or missingform labels constitutes discrimination and prevents visuallyimpaired users from looking for locations or learning about creditunions' services and amenities.

“The problem with this whole ADA website issue is there isreally no agreement on whether the public accommodations provisionsapply at all. And certainly if they do apply, there's no guidance on what standards are necessary,” Bredehoftexplained.

To date, at least 15 cases have been voluntarily dismissed.Though public court records around the dismissals are brief andgenerally don't say explicitly whether settlements occurred, anotice of dismissal in those circumstances is almost invariably anindication that a case has been resolved out of court, Bredehoftsaid.

One credit union whose case was resolved without furtherlitigation was Richmond, Virginia-based Connects FederalCredit Union, which has $76 million in assets and about 9,700members. Court records show it was sued last October. InDecember, the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the case. ForEvelyn Dowdy, who is the credit union's president and CEO, it was along two months.

“I have 26 employees, and I'm one of them. To me, this wastaking up a whole lot of my time,” she said.

For many credit unions, especially small ones, how to handle asuit may come down to a business decision, Bredehoft noted.

“Sometimes that means settlement looks attractive, other timesit may mean that fighting is important because you don't want to betaken as an easy mark,” he said.

Playing offense rather than defense is likely a worthwhile strategy,according to Richard Hunt, a Dallas attorney who specializes in ADAlitigation.

“Any business should have a plan to make the websiteaccessible,” he said. “If they get sued, they ought to be able topoint to something before they got sued that said, 'Look, we weredoing this.'”

“I suspect that if you had a pretty good, accessible site andyou could get an expert to state that it was accessible, you'dprobably reach the point of where the plaintiff would decide tojust back off if you push back hard enough,” Hunt added.

Regardless of what course a credit union takes, there are stillworries about what could happen after the dust settles.

“I don't know if we've got the website totally behind us,because who's to say somebody else can't come up and do the samething to me?” Dowdy asked. “That's why I'm just sad. I've been incredit unions for a long time. It just makes me sad that it's goingto be a lot of this litigation going on that's going to hurt andaffect small credit unions.”

Teri Robinson had similar sentiments. “My concern is that thisisn't going to deter anybody from coming after us again,” she said.“If there's no real guidelines on it, how are we going to know whatis right and what is wrong?”

That may be one reason few are willing to speculate on how manymore credit unions will be hit with ADA suits.

“I can't imagine,” Hunt said. “My first thought is, how manycredit unions are there?”