Page:Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Laufer.pdf/13

Rh of both [her]self and other similarly situated disabled persons.” App. 17a. She admits that, “[a]s a tester, [she] visit[s] hotel online reservation services to ascertain whether they are in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.” Ibid. As a public official would do, Laufer even monitors those hotel websites she has found lacking. She uses “a system” to track each of the hundreds of hotels she has sued. Id., at 19a. “Once a case is settled, [she] mark[s] the date … when the defendant has agreed to fix its websites,” and on that date, she “revisit[s]” the website to ensure the hotel has complied. Id., at 19a–20a.

Laufer sues “not to enforce specific legal obligations whose violation works a direct harm” on her, but to force hotels to comply with the Reservation Rule. Allen v. Wright, 468 U. S. 737, 761 (1984). “Vindicating the public interest … is the function of Congress and the Chief Executive,” however, not private plaintiffs. Lujan, 504 U. S., at 576. The President is tasked with the duty to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” U. S. Const., Art. II, § 3, and Executive Branch officials have discretion to choose whether and how to enforce the law, see Heckler v. Chaney, 470 U. S. 821, 831–832 (1985). Yet, as Judge Newsom has explained, “[t]esters exercise the sort of proactive enforcement discretion properly reserved to the Executive Branch,” with none of the corresponding accountability. Laufer v. Arpan, LLC, 29 F. 4th 1268, 1291 (CA11 2022) (concurring opinion).

This case exemplifies the dangers. An official could have informed Acheson Hotels that its website failed to comply with the Reservation Rule, and Acheson Hotels could have updated its website to explain it had no accessible rooms. Laufer, however, chose to “enforce” each technical violation of the ADA she could uncover with a lawsuit. Because she is a private plaintiff, no discretion was required or exercised. And, of course, Laufer has been willing to forgo her suits if a hotel pays up, even though the ADA provides for no damages for private litigants. Laufer’s aggressive efforts to