We continue to report on the plethora of serial plaintiffs who have collectively filed thousands of website accessibility lawsuits, primarily against small businesses, in state and federal courts throughout the country. These boilerplate lawsuits generally allege that these businesses’ websites are inaccessible to visually impaired individuals who use screen-reading software, thus denying them full and equal access to the goods or services offered on the websites.
Several relatively new plaintiffs are now on the scene, including Sanjay Sookul, Orlando Bruno, Carmelo Rodriguez, Marlelis Hernandez, and Leshawn Young, who, according to court records, have collectively filed 214 lawsuits, the vast majority of which were filed in recent months.
- Sookul has filed 41 lawsuits since October 2022, including 32 lawsuits in 2023. She is represented by Mars Khaimov, who has filed more than 1,250 similar lawsuits.
- Bruno has filed 45 lawsuits since November 10, 2023, Rodriguez has filed 25 lawsuits since September 22, 2023, and Hernandez has filed 62 lawsuits since September 15, 2023. They are represented by Mizrahi Kroub LLP, which has filed more than 3,000 similar lawsuits in federal court (and hundreds more in New York State courts).
- Young has filed 41 lawsuits since April 2022, including 17 lawsuits in 2023. She is represented by Gottlieb & Associates, which has filed more than 1,700 similar lawsuits.
As we have reported on numerous occasions, both state and federal lawmakers have taken steps in recent years to curb website accessibility lawsuits; however, to date, no legislation has been passed. In the absence of legislation or regulations promulgated by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), we recommend that businesses operating a website, mobile application, or both take steps to ensure that these online systems are accessible to users with disabilities and otherwise comply with federal, state, and local disability laws in accordance with DOJ guidance issued in March 2022.
It should be noted that the DOJ recently submitted for publication in the Federal Register a notice of rulemaking under Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) that aims to improve access to websites and mobile applications for people with disabilities by creating a minimum standard for state and local governments to meet existing ADA obligations.
In the unfortunate event your business is served with one of these website accessibility lawsuits, please do not hesitate to contact the attorneys at Barclay Damon. We will continue to monitor the development of these cases.
If you have any questions regarding the content of this alert, please contact Rob Thorpe, partner, at rthorpe@barclaydamon.com, or another member of the firm’s Labor & Employment or Commercial Litigation Practice Areas or Hotels, Hospitality & Food Service Team.
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