Mejico v. MCM Products USA, Inc.

Summary

On December 4, 2019, Brittney Mejico filed a Complaint in California State court against MCM Products USA Inc. Plaintiff Brittney Mejico alleges that us.mcmworldwide.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0 accessibility standard(s).

About the defendant

MCM is a designer fashion label, manufacturing and selling men's and women's streetwear, shoes, bags, and accessories at retail stores and via its website.

What the complaint says

The problems the plaintiff describes with the website.

• Multiple form labels, which presents a problem because a form control should have at most one associated label element. If more than one label element is associated to the control, assistive technology may not read the appropriate label;
• Empty buttons, which means that a button is empty or has no value text. When navigating to a button, descriptive text must be presented to screen reader users to indicate the function of the button;
• Linked image missing alternative text which presents a problem because an image without alternative text results in an empty link. Images that are the only thing within a link must have descriptive alternative text. If an image is within a link that contains no text and the image does not provide alternative text, a screen reader has no content to present to the user regarding the function of the link; and
• Spacer image missing alternative text which presents aproblem because a layout spacer image does not have an alt attribute. Spacer images are used to maintain layout.

Legal claims

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

• Unruh Civil Rights Act, California Civil Code § 51 et seq.

What the plaintiff asks for

What the plaintiff wants the court to order.

• For a judgment that Defendant violated Plaintiff’s rights under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, California Civil Code § 51 et seq.
• For a preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendant to take the steps necessary to make the Websites readily accessible to and usable by visually-impaired individuals, but Plaintiff hereby expressly limit the injunctive relief to require the Defendant expend no more than $20,000 as the cost of injunctive relief;
• An award of statutory minimum damages of $4,000 per violation pursuant to section 52(a) of the California Civil Code, however, Plaintiff expressly limit the total amount of recovery, including statutory damages, attorneys' fees and costs, and cost of injunctive relief not to exceed $74,999;
• For pre-judgment interest to the extent permitted by law;
• For costs of suit; and
• For such other and further relief as the Court Deems just and proper.