Two Lawyers File Nearly 100 Class Action Lawsuits Over Hearing Aid Accessibility in Israeli Businesses
In the past year and a half, at least 93 class action lawsuit requests have been filed against various businesses in Israel for failing to install hearing aid assistance systems as required by law. These lawsuits were submitted by two lawyers, Eran Plesser and Shlomi Avni, with most cases involving only three representative plaintiffs targeting different businesses. The claims seek compensation ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of shekels per business, covering sectors from food stores to electronics and women's clothing.
The lawsuits allege violations of regulations mandating the installation of hearing aid loops in all branches of chain stores, regardless of size, while standalone stores must meet a minimum size threshold of 150 square meters. Plaintiffs, who are hearing impaired, visit businesses to check for the presence of these systems, followed by private investigators verifying other branches. Many cases end in "rewarded withdrawal," where the plaintiff agrees to drop the class action in exchange for personal compensation and attorney fees, alongside commitments to install the required systems and donations to hearing impairment organizations.
Unlike other accessibility-related lawsuits, these hearing aid cases rarely involve prior warnings to businesses, as no legal requirement or binding precedent currently mandates such a step. This contrasts with website accessibility lawsuits, which saw a 93% drop after a court ruling required prior notice. Critics, including former Deputy Minister Avir Kara, argue that the hearing aid loop requirement is unique to Israel and was pushed by lobbyists, resulting in costly lawsuits over minor infractions that harm small businesses. Kara supports pending legislation to exempt very small businesses from class actions and require plaintiffs to send a 2,000-shekel warning before suing.
The lawyers defending the lawsuits contend that their actions enforce important accessibility laws protecting over a million people with disabilities in Israel, including hundreds of thousands with hearing impairments. They emphasize that many businesses neglect their legal obligations, forcing disabled customers to struggle for equal service. The ongoing legislative reform aims to balance enforcement with protections for small businesses, but progress has stalled since its first reading in 2024.
The controversy highlights tensions between disability rights enforcement and the impact of legal actions on small businesses, with courts continuing to approve settlements and no current requirement for pre-litigation warnings in these cases.
