Governor signs bills blocking abusive lawsuits and changing tax notice mailing requirements

By Ray McCarty

May 7, 2026 - Governor Mike Kehoe signed two bills of importance to Missouri businesses yesterday.

HCS SS SCS SB's 907, 1154 & 1272 (Sen. Hudson) is a bill that deals with a big problem facing many businesses, particularly small businesses: lawsuits alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The purpose of such lawsuits is not to improve the accessibility of websites for persons with disabilities, but to extract payment from the businesses.

"Associated Industries of Missouri supports this bill that protects unsuspecting business owners from frivolous lawsuit threats," said Ray McCarty, president and CEO of Associated Industries of Missouri. "While most businesses are aware of their responsibility to provide accessibility to physical locations, many are not aware of any requirement for their websites. This bill allows the Attorney General to intervene when appropriate and stop abusive lawsuits. We applaud the General Assembly for passing the bill and Governor Kehoe for signing the bill."

In this scenario, an attorney sends a letter to businesses operating websites saying the website is not ADA accessible and stating the attorney represents a disabled person who was harmed. The attorney offers to settle the claim for less than it would cost the business to hire an attorney and the business settles because it is more economical than defending themselves in court. We have heard from many businesses that have been victims of this sue-and-settle scheme.

This act creates the "Act Against Abusive Website or Web Content Access Litigation". The Attorney General, on behalf of residents of this state, the state, or a political subdivision that is subject to litigation that alleges any website or web content access violation, may file a civil action against the party, attorney, or law firm that initiated such litigation for a determination as to whether such litigation is abusive litigation. In determining whether a civil action alleging a website or web content access claim is considered abusive, the court must consider the totality of the circumstances to find whether the primary purpose of the litigation was to obtain payment from a defendant due to the costs of defending the action in court. A defendant who receives notice of an alleged website or web content access violation and in good faith takes substantial steps to correct the violation within 90 days shall have a rebuttable presumption that any subsequent claim for a website or web content access violation is abusive.

The Attorney General may also issue guidance as to when litigation practices are deemed abusive, but such guidance shall not preclude legitimate accessibility enforcement actions. The court may award attorney's fees and costs to the party defending against the abusive litigation. The court may also award punitive damages or sanctions not to exceed three times the amount of attorney's fees awarded by the court.

If the U.S. Department of Justice issues standards concerning website or web content accessibility under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, the provisions of this act will expire. The act applies to litigation pending on August 28, 2026, and the 90-day correction period shall apply to any defendant in any pending litigation on August 28, 2026, that has complied with the requirements of this act prior to or within 90 days after such date.

The Governor also signed HB 2180 (Rep. Griffith), a bill that allows the Missouri Department of Revenue to send taxpayer notices by regular mail or electronic mail instead of the currently required registered or certified mail. The Department bears the burden of proving the notices were sent to the taxpayer at their last known address.