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.
There has been a recent surge in lawsuits filed by several of these plaintiffs, including Zayzay Howard, Carlos Gonzalez, Waleska Pena, Luis Compres, Carlos Moreno, Nersi Nin Vasquez, and Shivan Bassaw, who, according to court records, have collectively filed approximately 365 website accessibility lawsuits, many of which were filed in recent 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.
- Howard has filed 33 lawsuits since October 31, 2024.
- Gonzalez has filed 17 lawsuits since November 7, 2024.
- Pena has filed 15 lawsuits in 2024 (and 93 total lawsuits since November 2022).
- Compres has filed 90 lawsuits in 2024.
- Moreno filed 15 lawsuits in 2024—all on the same day (November 22, 2024).
- Vasquez has filed 20 lawsuits in 2024 (and 39 total lawsuits since June 2023).
- Bassaw has filed 37 lawsuits in 2024 (and 79 total lawsuits since December 2022).
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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