© 2024 Maine Public | Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.

Supreme Court will hear arguments in lawsuit over disability information at a Maine hotel

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether a Florida woman can sue a Maine hotel for failing to provide accessibility information, even if she never intended to stay at the hotel.

Deborah Laufer has filed more than 600 federal lawsuits against lodging establishments that she believes don't provide enough information about accessibility as required by federal rules.

But, since Laufer never intends to stay at any of these places, lower courts have differed over whether she has standing to sue. The Maine case involves a suit Laufer filed against Coast Village Inn and Cottages in Wells. In that case, a lower court dismissed Laufer's suit, but the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Laufer did have standing.

The hotel's owner, Acheson appealed and today the U.S. Supreme Court said it will hear the case.