Friday, August 24, 2012

Judge: eBay NOT under ADA

A California judge says eBay isn't required to follow ADA law and give users an alternative to using a phone in order to verify their identities. The decision in favor of the online auction site by Edward Davila in San Jose, dismisses most of a lawsuit filed by Melissa Earll two years ago. She spend a couple of months trying to work something out with eBay, but was never allowed to register as a seller because she is deaf. The decision flies in the face of a ruling across the country in Massachusetts by Judge Michael Ponsor against Netflix. He's letting the National Association of the Deaf move forward with its lawsuit accusing Netflix of violating ADA by not providing captioning for its streaming videos. Like eBay, Netflix has argued that the company is not required to follow ADA requirements because it is not a place of "public accommodation.