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 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 Alfonso Harrell, Andre Battle, Pasquale Agnone, Veronica Gaspa, and Andrew Zhang, who, according to court records, have collectively filed approximately 80 website accessibility lawsuits in 2024. These plaintiffs are all represented by Horowitz Law, PLLC.
- Harrell has filed 14 lawsuits since June 21, 2024.
- Battle has filed 11 lawsuits since August 23, 2024.
- Agnone has filed 26 lawsuits since June 20, 2024.
- Gaspa has filed 22 lawsuits since May 21, 2024.
- Zhang filed six lawsuits since October 31, 2024.
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 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.
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 & Complex Trials Practice Areas or Hotels, Hospitality & Food Service Team.
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