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<b>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br>
<br>
CONTACT:<br>
</b>Chris Danielsen<br>
Director of Public Relations<br>
National Federation of the Blind<br>
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330<br>
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)<br>
<a href="mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org">cdanielsen@nfb.org</a><br>
<u> <br>
</u>Kevin Williams<br>
Legal Program Director<br>
Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition<br>
(720) 336-3584<br>
<a href="mailto:kwilliams@ccdconline.org">kwilliams@ccdconline.org</a>
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<div align="center"><b> <br>
PetSmart Accused of Discrimination Against the Blind in New Civil
Suit<br>
</div>
<br>
<div align="center"><i>Plaintiffs Allege ‘Separate but Unequal’ <br>
Treatment of Blind Customers<br>
</i></b></div>
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<b>Denver, Colorado (April 22, 2015):</b> PetSmart, Inc., which bills
itself as the nation’s largest seller of pet food, pet supplies, and pet
services in the United States, is accused of violating the rights of
blind customers under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”),
according to a class action lawsuit (Case No. 1:15-cv-00839) filed
yesterday in the United States District Court for the District of
Colorado on behalf of <a href="http://www.nfb.org/">the National
Federation of the Blind (NFB)</a>, the Colorado Cross-Disability
Coalition (CCDC), and six blind individuals who reside in Colorado,
Texas, and Massachusetts. The suit alleges violations of Title III of the
ADA as well as state laws, because PetSmart requires the entry of debit
card PINs on touch-screen keypads, which the blind cannot operate, rather
than simple, inexpensive tactile keypads. <br>
<br>
Despite a Department of Justice (“DOJ”) statement filed in a Florida
court more than a year ago that set forth the DOJ’s position that
merchants are required under the ADA to provide blind customers a
physical keypad to input their debit card PINs, PetSmart has failed to do
so. As a result, blind customers are forced to sacrifice the security of
their debit card PIN by sharing it with PetSmart employees or using
another less desirable form of payment. <br>
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“PetSmart is discriminating against the blind by not providing us the
same treatment as their sighted customers,” says Yolanda Thompson, one of
the lead plaintiffs in the suit. “PetSmart seems to have a ‘separate but
unequal’ attitude when it comes to the disabled.” <br>
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Mark A. Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
said: “Blind people are just as concerned about the security of our
financial accounts and information as our sighted peers, so having to
verbally provide our debit card PIN to PetSmart’s sales personnel is not
acceptable. Nor is it an answer to say that we can pay with cash or a
credit card instead; blind people must have all of the same options for
payment as the sighted as a matter of equal treatment, and the benefits
of using debit cards, such as the ability to receive cash back, apply
equally to the blind. We will not accept PetSmart’s cavalier attitude
toward the basic security and equal treatment that we are entitled to
expect from those with whom we do business.”<br>
<br>
“It’s difficult to give quality care to my guide dog from a place that
doesn’t offer me equality,” said Dishon Spears, a Colorado resident and
NFB member. “Blind customers cannot shop at PetSmart in the same way that
sighted customers can. This is discrimination, whether or not PetSmart
intends it that way.” <br>
<br>
Plaintiffs are represented in this matter by Jana Eisinger and Douglas
Lambalot of the Martinez Law Group, P.C., a law firm that specializes in
complex litigation and class actions, with offices in Denver and New York
City; Scott LaBarre of LaBarre Law Offices, P.C. in Denver; and Kevin
Williams, head of the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition Legal Program
in Denver.<br>
<b>###<br>
About the National Federation of the Blind<br>
</b>The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.<br>
<br>
<b>About the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition<br>
</b> <br>
The Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition (CCDC) is a non-profit,
disability rights advocacy organization whose mission is to advocate for
social justice for people with all types of disabilities. <br>
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