Americans with Disabilities Act Violations
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal civil rights law prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in everyday activities. The act covers activities in five areas of public life, including employment, participation in government programs, public accommodations, transportation, and telecommunications.
- September 14, 2026
How ADA Violations Can Lead to Class Action Lawsuits
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 made it illegal to discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities in employment. In 2008, amendments to the act broadened the statutory definition of disability. Because widespread accessibility barriers and discriminatory practices can have serious impacts on people with disabilities, these practices may result in collective legal action like class action lawsuits. Taking legal action allows people harmed by disability discrimination to seek redress for their losses.
What Counts as an ADA Violation?
Under the ADA, discrimination is unlawful in recruitment, firing, hiring, training, job assignments, promotions, pay, benefits, layoffs, leave, and all other job-related activities. Employers are also prohibited from retaliating against you for asserting your rights under the ADA. However, you must be qualified to perform the essential functions of a job with or without reasonable accommodation to be protected from discrimination by the ADA.
Job discrimination is illegal by private employers with at least 15 employees, state and local governments, employment agencies, labor organizations, and labor management committees. Discrimination may include direct disability discrimination, failure to provide reasonable accommodations or modifications, inaccessible facilities, and retaliation.
Direct Disability Discrimination
If you have a disability and are qualified to do a job, the ADA protects you from discrimination based on your disability. The law considers a person to have a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. An employer can’t refuse to hire you or treat you less favorably because your actual, past, or perceived disability prevents you from performing duties that aren’t essential to the job.
Failure to Provide a Reasonable Accommodation
Employers must provide reasonable accommodations to workers and applicants with disabilities unless they can show that doing so would be an undue hardship requiring significant difficulty or expense. Reasonable accommodations are any change or adjustment to a job or work environment that lets a qualified person perform the essential functions of the job or enjoy the benefits of employment as anyone else would. This may include:
- Assistive technology or interpreters
- Job restructuring
- Part-time or modified work schedules
- Reassignment to a vacant position
- Accessibility
An employer’s failure to make a reasonable workplace change or accommodation for a qualified applicant or employee may constitute an ADA violation.
Failure to Make a Reasonable Modification
Businesses and government entities may need to modify policies, practices, or procedures when necessary to provide equal access to people with disabilities, unless doing so would fundamentally alter the service or program.
Inaccessible Buildings or Facilities
Entrances, parking spaces, routes, service counters, restrooms, examination rooms, seating areas, and other physical features in a business or government entity that prevent equal access to people with disabilities may constitute an ADA violation.
Failure to Communicate Effectively
Covered entities may need to provide auxiliary aids or services so people with hearing, vision, or speech disabilities can receive information and communicate effectively.
Retaliation or Interference
Threatening, punishing, intimidating, or otherwise retaliating against someone for requesting an accommodation, filing a complaint, or asserting ADA rights may create a separate violation.
Notable Examples of ADA Violation Class Actions
In November 2025, New York Amazon warehouse employee Cayla Lyster filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Amazon alleging disability discrimination, retaliation and interference with workers’ rights.
Lyster, who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, alleged that Amazon denied reasonable accommodations and forced her onto unpaid leave despite available work she could perform. The complaint also alleged that Amazon deducted time from workers’ unpaid time off balances for protected absences and threatened termination, discouraging requests for accommodations. The proposed class sought changes to Amazon’s policies and practices.
In Johnson v. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, inmates alleged that inaccessible jail facilities and inadequate wheelchair access violated the ADA and other laws. A judge granted preliminary approval to the class action settlement for inmates with mobility impairments in November 2014 and final approval in March 2015. The agreement required accessibility improvements, working wheelchairs and equal access to jail programs.
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Your Rights Under the Americans with Disabilities Act
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, people with disabilities have the right to report discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces the ADA at the federal level. The EEOC also works with state and local civil rights enforcement agencies. You can contact the EEOC if you think you’re being discriminated against on the basis of disability.
Who Can File an ADA Claim?
The ADA’s definition of disability includes a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or being subjected to prohibited discrimination because of an actual or perceived impairment. Major life activities include walking, hearing, learning, working and the operation of major bodily functions.
For protection based on a perceived impairment, the impairment does not need to substantially limit a major life activity. However, impairments that are both minor and transitory, meaning lasting or expected to last six months or less, are excluded from this category. Being covered solely under the “regarded as” category does not create a right to reasonable accommodation.
If a shared policy or accessibility barrier violated your ADA rights, you may have grounds to join or start a class action. An attorney can evaluate your claim and whether class treatment is appropriate.
What Compensation or Remedies are Available for ADA Violations?
In an ADA violation case, possible outcomes vary and may include monetary relief, accessibility changes, or other remedies depending on the case. Potential compensation and remedies also depend on the type of case–for instance, whether the case is an EEOC enforcement action or whether you take individual or collective action against a company or government entity. Speak to a class action lawyer to determine what options you may have for seeking redress after disability discrimination.
What Evidence Can Help Support an ADA Class Action Investigation?
Several types of evidence may be important in supporting a claim of Americans with Disabilities Act violations, including:
- Written policies and employee handbooks
- Accommodation requests and responses
- Photographs and videos of physical barriers
- Website and mobile-app evidence
If you believe you experienced discrimination in a job or public service based on your disability, you have options for holding the responsible party accountable. Check our class action resources and active news feed to learn more.
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