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Fischler v. Fitzpatrick Hotel Group Inc. (USA)

Filed

Case details

Summary

On September 10, 2019, Brian Fischler filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against Fitzpatrick Hotel Group Inc. . Plaintiff Brian Fischler alleges that www.fitzpatrickhotels.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0 accessibility standard(s).

About the defendant

Fitzpatrick Hotel Group, Inc. owns and operates hotels.

What the complaint says

The problems the plaintiff describes with the website.

  • Lack of alt-text for images. Many images are labeled only with a file name.
  • Document titles are blank.
  • Frames do not have a title.
  • PDFs are not properly tagged and therefore are inaccessible to screen readers.
  • Forms have fields without label elements or title attributes.
  • Webpages have no headings, and headings are not nested correctly.
  • Form field labels are not unique on a page or enclosed in a fieldset that makes the label unique.
  • Links use general text like “here” or “explore” which doesn’t explain the link purpose.
  • Several links on a page share the same link text but go to different destinations.

Legal claims

The laws the plaintiff says the defendant broke, called causes of action.

  • Violations of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 1281 et seq.
  • Violations of the NYSHRL
  • Violations of the NYCHRL
  • Declaratory Relief

What the plaintiff asks for

What the plaintiff wants the court to order.

  • A preliminary and permanent injunction to prohibit Defendant from violating Title III of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, et seq., N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, et seq., N.Y.C. Admin. 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 Websites into full compliance with the requirements set forth in Title III of the ADA, and its implementing regulations, so that the Websites are readily accessible to and usable by blind individuals
  • A declaration that Defendant owns, maintains and/or operates the Websites in a manner that discriminates against the blind and which fails to provide access for persons with disabilities as required by ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, et seq., N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, et seq., N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107, et seq., and the laws of New York
  • An order certifying the Class and Subclasses under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a) & (b)(2) and/or (b)(3), appointing Plaintiff as Class Representative, and his attorneys as Class Counsel
  • Compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by proof, including all applicable statutory damages, punitive damages and fines
  • 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.