I’m no legal beagle, but I’m reasonably aware of ADA.
The deal with ADA is that you have to be allowed reasonable accommodations to perform a job to the same standards.
So Russell, essentially, is arguing that he needs a band. So he hired a band. He created his own accommodations. Whatever. Fine. He was allowed that and then declined. So that doesn’t automatically mean that his accommodations weren’t allowed. It’s really the opposite. He was never denied accommodations. He got exactly what every other contestant gets: consideration.
If anything, he had a better chance suing based on AGT not paying for the band or just reviewing the music as written. He could then say that it’s unfair that his talent (music writing) is having to be demonstrated because of his disability.
But bc HE HIRED his own band to make AGT more able to judge his talent, he’s not really able to prove that he wasn’t considered due to disability. Like, lots of folks don’t get to round two. Lots. Most aren’t disabled.