On February 12, 2015, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), on behalf of its members (including three named in the complaint) and a proposed class filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The plaintiffs sued under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act against Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The plaintiffs were represented by attorneys from the Disability Law Center, Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, the National Association of the Deaf Law and Advocacy Center, and private council. The plaintiffs sought a permanent injunction that would require MIT to provide accurate captioning on its online content. The plaintiffs claimed that MIT willfully violated the Rehabilitation Act and Americans with Disabilities Act by not providing captioned video and audio content on its platforms and therefore excluding deaf and hard of hearing individuals from benefiting from said content.

The plaintiffs alleged that based on information and belief, MIT did not have administrative procedures or policies in place to ensure that its online content had accurate captioning, whether or not that content had been created or produced by MIT itself. This issue extended back to 2010, when the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education issued a joint letter to university colleges and presidents to make clear that the requirements of § 504 and ADA include technological devices when used by places of public accommodation. The following year, the Department of Education released an FAQ explaining that letter, indicating that its contents were predicated on legal precedents and that the letter would apply to all forms of emerging technology, including online content. Additionally, MIT has stated on its website how important captioning is to deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Despite all this and repeated requests from the NAD, MIT has yet to accurately caption much of its online content.

This case is very much still in progress. After the initial filing of the complaint on February 12, 2015, MIT filed a motion to dismiss on May 11, 2015, citing issues of jurisdiction and a failure to state a cause of action. There have been a number of responses on MIT's motion, including the filing of an Amicus Brief by a representative from the U.S. Department of Justice. While not directly involved in the case, the DOJ is an interested party and appears to agree with the plaintiffs on this issue. On September 10, 2015, there was a hearing on the motion to dismiss held before the Magistrate Judge Katherine A. Robertson. As of yet the transcript for that hearing is unavailable.

Carolyn Weltman - 10/05/2015


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