Michelle M. McGeogh

The Maryland legislature recently passed several laws that affect pay transparency, family and medical leave, the scope of the State’s antidiscrimination laws, workplace safety, and noncompete agreements. As many of these new laws already have taken effect, now is the time for Maryland employers to take steps to ensure compliance.

Pay Transparency

On October 1, 2024, Maryland joined a host of other states requiring pay transparency in internal and external job postings.… Continue Reading

On December 5, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States in Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Laufer, declined to substantively address a question businesses across the country have been eager to resolve: That is, whether a “tester” plaintiff has standing to sue a public accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), despite having no intention of ever visiting the business.… Continue Reading

On August 4, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released its highly anticipated proposed changes to the regulations implementing Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Title II prohibits state and local governments from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. The regulations aim to increase accessibility of websites and mobile applications by clarifying how these public entities can meet their ADA obligations on a technical level.… Continue Reading

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that a disabled Florida resident has standing to sue a Maryland hotel under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), despite that Florida resident (the  “plaintiff” ) never intending to stay at the hotel.

In Laufer v. Naranda Hotels, LLC,the plaintiff alleged that Naranda Hotels, LLC (“Naranda”) violated Title III of the ADA because a third-party hotel reservation website did not provide sufficient information regarding the accessibility of Naranda’s hotel rooms.… Continue Reading

The historical uncertainty regarding whether businesses must have websites and mobile applications that are accessible to persons with disabilities has been, in part, the result of the absence of regulatory direction as to whether such digital assets are covered by Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

While regulations have yet to be promulgated, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) on March 18, 2022 published Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA explaining that entities covered by Title II (state and local governments) and Title III (places of public accommodation) should ensure their websites are accessible to people with disabilities in line with the ADA’s requirements.… Continue Reading

On April 7, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Winn-Dixie Stores’ websites are not “public accommodations” and therefore are not subject to the accessibility requirements of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).  The decision reversed a 2017 federal district court opinion – in what may be the only website accessibility case to ever go to trial – that required the grocery store chain to make its website accessible to individuals with visual disabilities. … Continue Reading