[nfbmi-talk] plaintiff alledges ada violations

[joe harcz Comcast]

Plaintiff Alleges ADA Violations by Banks, Retailers

Plaintiff Alleges ADA Violations by Banks, Retailers Photo: IlliniGradResearch via Wikimedia Commons

 

The proposed class action Robert Jahoda recently filed against Redbox Automated Retail LLC is the 13th such suit alleging violations of the Americans with

Disabilities Act the legally blind Pennsylvanian has brought this year, and the 61st since 2012, according to filings in U.S. District Court for the Western

District of Pennsylvania.

 

In

Jahoda v. Redbox ,

as in the others, plaintiff Jahoda’s focus is on making banks and retailers in the Pittsburgh area provide point-of-sale devices and ATMs that are accessible

to the visually impaired, protective of the blind users’ privacy, and otherwise compliant with Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Guiding

Jahoda’s campaign is attorney R. Bruce Carlson and other lawyers at the Pittsburgh firm, Carlson Lynch.

 

Filed on Sept. 17, Jahoda’s lawsuit argues that Redbox kiosks fail to accommodate potential customers with no or limited eyesight who want to rent videos

but cannot independently register, browse movies and kiosk locations or reserve movies for pick-up without having to publicly divulge their movie choices

or ask someone else to key in a PIN.

 

Redbox agreed to a $1.2 million settlement in a similar California federal class action, Lighthouse for the Blind v. Redbox, on June 26 in that state’s

Central District. Redbox agreed to modify its 4,000 California kiosks to provide tactile keyboards, headphone jacks and “text-to-speech” technology that

will read aloud the directions for choosing and renting videos.

 

For Jahoda, the Redbox filing follows 12 lawsuits this year targeting clothing, cookware and jewelry retailers including J. Crew Group Inc., Express Inc.,

The Zale Corp., Williams-Sonoma Inc., and L Brands Inc., parent company to Victoria’s Secret. At issue are the flat-screen checkout devices that register

purchases with the swipe of debit and credit cards but provide no tactile or audible clues that would allow people with impaired vision to complete a purchase

without revealing a PIN or relying on a stranger’s help.

 

In this year’s lawsuits, like those that came before, Zahoda primarily seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, along with attorneys’ fees and costs and

any unspecified relief the court sees fit to grant. Most of the cases have settled or were voluntarily dismissed, without elaboration.

 

Jahoda’s and Carlson’s blitz began just days after the passing of a March 15, 2012, deadline for making architectural and other modifications mandated by

the ADA, when they filed the first of what would be 35 putative class actions against banks and other financial institutions with ATMs that allegedly were

not independently accessible to the blind.

 

More recently, Carlson has been counsel to plaintiffs who have filed a series of proposed class actions against Starbucks Corp., CVS Caremark Corp., Wendy’s

Old Fashioned Hamburgers and several Pittsburgh-area malls for alleged violations of the ADA’s Title III because their parking areas or curb ramps have

slopes too steep to be easily and safely traversed by people in wheelchairs.

 

Source:

http://www.law.com/sites/articles/2014/10/01/plaintiff-alleges-ada-violations-by-banks-retailers/?slreturn=20140903103012