• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, April 2, 2015

Siding with eBay, a federal appellate court refused to revise a deaf woman's lawsuit alleging that the online auction service violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by requiring her to use a telephone to confirm her identity.

“EBay is not subject to the ADA,” the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in a ruling issued this week.

The three-judge appellate panel based its decision on the wording of the 1990 federal anti-discrimination law, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in “places of public accommodation."

Federal judges in California have said that phrase means that the ADA only applies in physical “places,” like brick-and-mortar stores, as opposed to online sites. “We have previously interpreted the term 'place of public accommodation' to require 'some connection between the good or service complained of and an actual physical place,'” the appellate judges wrote, referring to a ruling issued in 2000.

The ruling stems from a 2010 lawsuit by Missouri resident Melissa Earll, who alleged that eBay's telephone-based verification policies violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act as well as California's anti-discrimination laws.

She said eBay provides would-be merchants with passwords via the telephone; sellers must then enter those passwords online. Earll, who couldn't follow those procedures because she is "profoundly deaf," spent months asking eBay for an alternative verification system, according to her legal papers.

Earll originally wanted to sell used books, baseball cards and other memorabilia on eBay's platform, according to her lawyer, Michael Aschenbrener. After she couldn't register, she sold some items through local services and flea markets near her home in rural Missouri, according to Aschenbrener. But Earll believes she would have sold the items for more money had she been able to use eBay's service, according to Aschenbrener.

A federal district court judge in northern California dismissed Earll's claims in 2012, ruling that the federal Americans with Disabilities Act doesn't apply to online companies like eBay.

Earll then asked the 9th Circuit to revive her case, arguing that limiting the ADA to “physical structures” leaves disabled people without protection from discrimination.

The Internet Association -- a trade group representing Amazon, Facebook, Google, and other Web companies -- weighed in on eBay's side, arguing that online commerce sites could face “ruinous obligations” if they are required to accommodate users with disabilities.

Not all judges say the ADA doesn't apply online. Last month, a federal judge in Vermont refused to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that Scribd violates the anti-discrimination law. And several years ago, a federal judge in Massachusetts recently ruled that the ADA applies to Netflix.