Plaintiff
- Name: Mary West
- Filing date: August 17, 2020
- State of filing: New York
Defendant
- Name: Ellesse USA LLC
- Website: www.ellesse.com
- Industry: Apparel
- Summary: Ellessee USA is the US subsidiary of the French shoe, tennis, and athletic wear brand, Ellesse.
Case Summary
On August 17, 2020, Mary West filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against Ellesse USA LLC. Plaintiff Mary West alleges that www.ellesse.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.1 accessibility standard(s).
Case Details
Plaintiff alleges issues in its Complaint including the following:
- Lack of Alternative Text (“alt-text”), or a text equivalent.
- Empty Links That Contain No Text causing the function or purpose of the link to not be presented to the user.
- Redundant Links where adjacent links go to the same URL address
- Linked Images Missing Alt-text, which causes problems if an image within a link contains no text and that image does not provide alt-text
- Many pages on the Website also contain the same title elements.
- The Website also contained a host of broken links
Plaintiff asserts the following cause(s) of action in its Complaint:
- VIOLATIONS OF THE ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq.
- VIOLATIONS OF THE NYCHRL
- DECLARATORY RELIEF
Plaintiff seeks the following relief by way of its Complaint:
- A preliminary and permanent injunction to prohibit Defendant from violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, et seq., N.Y.C. Administrative Code § 8-107, et seq., and the laws of New York
- A preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendant to take all the steps necessary to make its Website into full compliance with the requirements set forth in the ADA, and its implementing regulations, so that the Website is readily accessible to and usable by blind individuals
- A declaration that Defendant owns, maintains and/or operates its Website in a manner that discriminates against the blind and which fails to provide access for persons with disabilities as required by Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, et seq., N.Y.C. Administrative Code § 8-107, et seq., and the laws of New York
- An order certifying the Class and Sub-Classes under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a) & (b)(2) and/or (b)(3), appointing Plaintiff as Class Representative, and her attorneys as Class Counsel
- Compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by proof, including all applicable statutory and punitive damages and fines, to Plaintiff and the proposed class and subclasses for violations of their civil rights under New York City Human Rights Law and City Law
- Pre- and post-judgment interest
- An award of costs and expenses of this action together with reasonable attorneys’ and expert fees
- Such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper.