D. Nebraska: NFB-Nebraska Lacks Organizational or Associational Standing to Challenge Employment Discrimination

Earlier this week, Judge Joseph Bataillon of the District of Nebraska issued a decision granting the motion to dismiss in National Federation of the Blind of Nebraska, Inc. v. Outlook Nebraska, Inc., 2011 WL 4802643 (D.Neb., Oct. 11, 2011).  NFB-Nebraska brought the case under Title I of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to challenge what it alleged was a pattern of discrimination against blind workers at Outlook Nebraska, a Javits-Wagner-O'Day employer.  Outlook moved to dismiss for lack of standing, and the court agreed.  The court concluded that NFB-Nebraska lacked organizational standing because it had not sufficiently alleged that the defendant's discrimination led to frustration of its mission or diversion of its resources, and that it lacked associational standing because proof of its claim would require participation of individual NFB members.  The court denied Outlook's motion for Rule 11 sanctions, however.