Big victory for credit unions

Credit Unions notched an important victory on Friday in their battle against ADA Website litigation. Although the decision is just binding for credit unions located in the Eastern District of Virginia, it provides important persuasive authority for credit unions to argue that their unique member only structure limits the type of people who are qualified to bring lawsuits against them.

The Northwest Federal Credit Union has a field of membership made up of current or former employees of the CIA and their family members. In contrast, the plaintiff did not allege that he was eligible to join this credit union. As the court explains, he was unable to deposit money into the credit union, obtain a loan, or get other services. Against this backdrop, the court concluded that he could make no showing that he was harmed by the credit union’s website, even if it was not ADA compliant. Crucially, the court also held that plans to visit [the website] are immaterial unless the defendant can establish that he is eligible to use “the credit union services.” Why is this statement so potentially important? Because in other contexts courts have recognized standing of parties to bring civil rights lawsuits as a means of testing compliance with Federal law.

 

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