Laufer v. Looper.

No. 21-1031.  D.Colo. Judge Matheson. Americans with Disabilities Act—Online Reservation System—Article III Standing—Injury in Fact—Concrete and Particularized Injury.

January 5, 2022

Plaintiff qualifies as disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and is a self-described ADA “tester.” Plaintiff visited the Elk Run Inn’s (Inn) online reservation system (ORS) and determined it did not comply with the ADA because it did not identify or allow for booking of accessible rooms, and it provided insufficient information as to whether the rooms or features at the hotel are accessible. She sued the Inn’s owners claiming violations of ADA Title III and its Colorado state law counterpart. Defendants moved to dismiss, and the district court dismissed the complaint for lack of standing.

Plaintiff argued on appeal that she suffered an injury in fact by being deprived of information to which she was legally entitled and therefore had standing under Article III. Standing under Article III requires a concrete injury that affects a plaintiff in a personal and individual way. An asserted informational injury that causes no adverse effects cannot satisfy Article III. Testers, like any other plaintiff, must satisfy these constitutional requirements. Here, plaintiff conceded that she had no concrete plans to visit the town where the Inn is located, and she did not attempt to book a room at the Inn and has no intent to do so. Accordingly, plaintiff failed to demonstrate that defendants’ failure to provide information caused her to suffer an injury in fact, and she lacks standing.

The judgment was affirmed.