We continue to report on 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.
There has been a recent surge in lawsuits filed by several of these plaintiffs, including Luis Compres, Cristian Sanchez, Ramon Fontanez, Sandra Pajaro, Wilson Garcia, and Ramon Jaquez, who, according to court records, have collectively filed more than 200 website accessibility lawsuits in New York State courts within the last few months. These plaintiffs are all represented by Mizrahi Kroub LLP, which has filed more than 3,000 similar lawsuits in federal court and, recently, hundreds more in New York State courts.
- Compres has filed 42 lawsuits since May 7, 2024.
- Sanchez has filed seven lawsuits since January 8, 2024, and, prior to that, he filed 174 similar lawsuits in federal court.
- Fontanez has filed 43 lawsuits since December 21, 2022, including 10 lawsuits in May 2024.
- Pajaro has filed 48 lawsuits since March 1, 2024.
- Garcia has filed 45 lawsuits since April 19, 2024.
- Jaquez has filed 18 lawsuits since October 13, 2023, including nine lawsuits in May 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 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.
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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