FIGUEROA v. VITACOST.COM, INC.

Plaintiff was denied a shopping experience similar to that of a sighted individual due to the website’s lack of a variety of features and accommodations, which effectively barred Plaintiff from being able to determine what specific supplements were offered for sale, browse the site in general, or make a purchase. Defendant’s Website lacks prompting information necessary to allow Plaintiff to locate and narrow down a specific field of desired products and price range. This omission was exacerbated by the lack of alt. text, which is the invisible code embedded beneath a graphical image on a website. Such lack of alt text prevented Plaintiff from being able to find and purchase the supplements such as amino acids that he was interested in purchasing, due to a failure of effective communication between his screen reader and Defendant’s Website. The Website also contains a host of broken links, which prevented Plaintiff from effectively browsing the supplements that he was interested in purchasing. In addition, the Website requires the use of a mouse to effectively browse and make a purchase. Yet Plaintiff cannot use a mouse because manipulating the mouse is a visual activity of moving the mouse pointer from one visual spot to another. Finally, Plaintiff was not able to determine whether a Live Chat was available or whether a phone number was posted, and if so, whether it was a 24/7 help line, as Plaintiff conducts much of his online shopping during the late evening hours.

• VIOLATIONS OF THE ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq.
• VIOLATIONS OF THE NYSHRL
• VIOLATION OF THE NEW YORK STATE CIVIL RIGHTS LAW
• VIOLATIONS OF THE NYCHRL
• DECLARATORY RELIEF

• Website, www.vitacost.com, lacks prompting information necessary to allow Plaintiff to locate and narrow down a specific field of desired products and price range. 
• Website also contains a host of broken links, which prevented Plaintiff from effectively browsing the supplements that he was interested in purchasing.