Acheson Hotels v. Laufer is a case that will be heard by the Supreme Court to determine if “testers” (in this case, people who research businesses to see if they comply with the federal rules requiring that businesses publish information about whether they are accessible to disabled people) can bring a case if the tester does not actually plan to use the business at the time the test is done.
In the amicus brief below (penned in part by CREEC’s former Co-Executive Director, Amy Robertson), CREEC joins 18 disability rights advocates who urge the Supreme Court to reject the attempt to trivialize the injuries suffered by disabled people when denied full access to public accommodations, as well as the related attack on the testers who have been a critical component of the enforcement of disability rights and ensuring meaningful access to the goods and services we depend on as a part of every day life.
A recent essay in the Columbia Human Rights Law Review Forum also highlights the importance of the hotel rule and testers and the core issues in the case. The essay also features the results from a survey designed by Fox & Robertson, which CREEC helped to circulate, that asked disabled people to share their travel-related experiences.