Fischler v. Freedom Debt Relief, LLC

Summary

On December 2, 2020, Brian Fischler filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against Freedom Debt Relief, LLC. Plaintiff Brian Fischler alleges that www.freedomdebtrelief.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.1 accessibility standard(s).

About the defendant

Freedom Debt Relief, LLC is a debt relief program that purports to lower customer's debt with other lenders.

What the complaint says

The problems the plaintiff describes with the website.

• Lack of alt-text for images.
• Frames do not have a title.
• Lack of alt-text for images.
• Form controls have no label.
• Tables are not labeled with row and column headers.
• Links use general text like “click here” with no surrounding text explaining the link purpose.
• Frames do not have a title.
• Button elements are empty and have no programmatically determined name. Form controls have no label and no programmatically determined name.
• Forms have fields without label elements or title attributes.
• Webpages have duplicate IDs, which cause problems with screen readers.
• Radio button groups are not contained in a fieldset element.
• Webpages have markup errors.

Legal claims

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

• Violations of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 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 Website into full compliance with the requirements set forth in Title III of 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 the Website 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.