PITTSBURGH – Credit unions and banks are looking at a new legal exposure in an emerging flurry of lawsuits over the Americans with Disabilities Act and its requirement to make all of their ATMs accessible to the visually impaired.
In a new spate of suits a legally blind consumer filed a dozen suits against local credit unions and banks—the most recent last Friday against Pittsburgh’s Century Heritage FCU—claiming the ATM owners failed to meet the March 15 deadline for making all ATMs accessible to the visually impaired. The suits all seek class action status on behalf of visually impaired consumers.
In the new credit union suit, Robert Jahoda, who describes himself as legally blind, visited the Century Heritage ATM in nearby McKeesport after the ADA compliance deadline and the machine was not fully accessible to or independently usable by blind people, as there were no voice functions or Braille keys at the ATM to make it compliant. Jahoda says based on investigation on his behalf he believes some of the CU's other ATMs are also non-compliant.
The non-compliance, claims Jahoda, “threatens blind people with the loss of their private banking information. Blind people who wish to use certain of Defendant’s ATMs have no choice but to repeatedly reveal their private PINs to others to complete an ATM banking transaction.”
The new series of suits comes as credit unions are fighting off a growing number of actions on ATM disclosures under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and a variety of consumer suits over the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
The ADA delineates specific guidelines for ATM owners to make their cash machines accessible to the visually impaired, including making them speech enabled; including tactile (raised) controls for touch; and providing Braille instructions for initiating the speech mode.
Jahoda said when he visited the Century Heritage ATM he had with him a valid ATM card and headphones compatible with 2010 standards for ADA access but the credit union’s ATM was not adequately equipped to provide accessibility.
He has asked the court for a declaration that Century Heritage is in violation of the ADA and a permanent injunction requiring it to make all of its ATMs compliance, as well as an order to have the credit union pay the cost of the suit and legal fees.
Jahoda has also filed similar suits against Home Savings and Loan Co. of Youngstown, Ohio; 1st National Community Bank; Charleroi Federal Savings Bank; Fidelity Bank; Commercial Bank and Trust of Pennsylvania; First Commonwealth Bank; Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania; PNC Bank; First Niagara Bank; Huntington National Bank and Northwest Bancorp, all within the last five weeks.
