The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday declared a lawsuit filed by Deborah Laufer against a Maine hotel is indeed moot.
Laufer, a self-described "tester," had filed suit against the Coast Village Inn and Cottages in Wells, and hundreds of other lodging establishments, for failing to display, on their websites, required accommodations for people with disabilities.
Hotel owner Acheson Hotels LLC argued Laufer had no right to sue since she admitted no plans to actually stay at the Maine hotel, or most of those she sued. Laufer withdrew her many lawsuits last July after a federal court suspended her attorney for defrauding hotels she sued.
But the Supreme Court went ahead with oral arguments in October on the question of whether Laufer could legally sue in the first place. The question has led to a split among lower, appeals courts.
In its ruling, all nine justices agreed Laufer's suits were now moot, but seven of them decided against ruling on the question of whether Laufer had standing to sue. Clarence Thomas, in a concurrence, said he would also have found Laufer lacked standing.