DETROIT A Pittsburgh lawyer who has sued credit unions and banks in a half-dozen states over compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, added another six suits here this week four of them targeting credit unions and another half-dozen in Minnesota.
The latest Michigan suits were filed on behalf of Cheryl Besser, a local resident who has been completely blind for the past 32 years, by the Pittsburgh firm of Carson Lynch. The firm, which has sued more than 100 credit unions and banks in Texas, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Tennessee and Florida, this week filed ADA claims here naming Ukrainian Future CU, Affinity Group CU, PAC FCU and Bestsource CU. Among 22 ADA suits filed by Besser are those naming as defendants Lakes Community CU, Telcom CU, Consumers CU and United Bay Community CU.
Separately, a Carlson client named Steve Sawczyn has filed six ADA suits in Minnesota, against Wings Financial CU and Richfield-Bloomington CU, among other institutions.
The new suits come as another Carlson client, Andres Gomez, has filed 18 ADA suits against Florida credit unions and banks over the past few months.
The suits all seek a court order directing the credit unions to bring their ATMs in compliance with provisions of the ADA, including providing Braille keyboards and headphone jacks to provide verbal instructions for operations, among other changes.
Dozens of credit unions have entered into settlements with the Carlson firm requiring them to update their ATMs and maintain records for compliance with the ADA, and to pay the Pittsburgh firm’s legal fees.
