First ADA ATM accessibility class action lawsuit is filed

In Tennessee and all across the country, it is against the law to discriminate against an employee or customer on the basis of gender, race, disability, or sexual orientation. Unfortunately, however, our Tennessee Employment ADA and Discrimination Lawyers regularly find that companies to do just that either by not providing proper accommodations, pay, or fair treatment for each of their employees.

According to this class-action lawsuit, blind individuals claim that they were denied services by certain banks as the result of ATMs that are not accessible to the visually impaired. One of the plaintiffs, Robert Jahoda, has now filed 35 ADA ATM lawsuits in federal district court. All the claims quote a March 2012 Wall Street Journal article that states that nearly 50 percent of the more than 400,000 ATMs in the United States are inaccessible to the visually impaired, despite the fact that new standards pertaining to accessibility to ATMs for the visually impaired took effect on March 15, 2011, and all ATMs were required to be upgraded to meet these new requirements by March 15, 2012.

Some of the ADA ATM requirements include but are not limited to: machines shall be speech enabled, speech shall be delivered through a mechanism that is readily available to all users, including but not limited to, an industry standard connector or a telephone handset. Speech shall be recorded or digitized human, or synthesized. The requirements for input controls include: at least one tactilely discernible input control shall be provided for each function. Where provided, key surfaces not on active areas of display screens shall be raised above surrounding surfaces.

The requirements for numeric keypads and display screens include: numeric keys shall be arranged in a 12-key ascending or descending telephone keypad layout. The number five key shall be tactilely distinct from the other keys. The display screen shall be visible from a point located forty inches above the center of the clear floor space in front of the machine. Characters displayed on the screen shall be in a sans serif font. Characters shall be 3/16 inches high minimum, based on the uppercase letter “I.” Characters shall contrast with their background with either light characters on a dark background or dark characters on a light background. Finally, Braille instructions for initiating the speech mode shall be provided.

Cases just like this one occur all too often to employees all across the country and to the employees right here in Tennessee. If you or someone you care about feels that you have been discriminated against at the workplace for any reason, then we encourage you to contact one of our compassionate and experienced Tennessee employment discrimination and ADA attorneys immediately. We care about our clients and will work with you to see that you get the compensation you deserve by law.