Americans with Disabilities Act litigation isn’t new—but how, why, and where it shows up in the claims space has shifted considerably in recent years. For those of us who work directly in claims resolution and management, these changes aren’t theoretical. They’re playing out in real time, often in the form of fast-moving lawsuits and high-pressure settlements.
Over the past two decades, ADA enforcement has gone from top-down federal action to a growing wave of individualized claims. In the early 2000s, the Department of Justice targeted large corporations—hotels, restaurant chains, big-box retailers—when systemic accessibility issues were