Elia Haggar v. Sam’s West, Inc.

Summary

On February 21, 2019, Elia Haggar Kyo Hak Chu Valerie Brooks filed a Complaint in California Federal court against Sams West, Inc.. Plaintiff Elia Haggar Kyo Hak Chu Valerie Brooks alleges that www.samsclub.com/sams is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1 accessibility standard(s).

About the defendant

Sams West, Inc. owns and operates a chain of retail Sam's Club stores selling groceries, apparel, home goods, electronics, automotive supplies, and other consumer goods.

What the complaint says

The problems the plaintiff describes with the website.

• 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 which results in additional navigation and repetition for keyboard and screen-reader users; and
• Linked Images missing alt-text, which causes problems if an image within a link does not contain any descriptive text and that image does not have alt-text.

Legal claims

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

• Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq.
• Unruh Civil Rights Act, California Civil Code § 51 et seq.

What the plaintiff asks for

What the plaintiff wants the court to order.

• For an Order certifying the Nationwide Class and California Class as defined herein and appointing Plaintiffs and his Counsel to represent the Nationwide Class and the California Class;
• A preliminary and permanent injunction pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §12188(a)(1) and (2) and section 52.1 of the California Civil Code enjoining Defendant from violating the Unruh Civil Rights Act and ADA and requiring Defendant to take the steps necessary to make https://www.samsclub.com/sams/ readily accessible to and usable by visually-impaired individuals;
• An award of statutory minimum damages of $4,000 per offense per person pursuant to section 52(a) of the California Civil Code.
• For attorneys’ fees and expenses pursuant to California Civil Code §§ 52(a), 52.1(h), and 42 U.S.C. § 12205;
• 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.