Duncan v. Judith Hellman, M.D. PLLC

Summary

On April 23, 2019, Eugene Duncan filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against Judith Hellman, M.D. PLLC. Plaintiff Eugene Duncan alleges that WWW.BIGAPPLESKIN.COM is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0 accessibility standard(s).

About the defendant

Judith Hellman, M.D. PLLC owns and operates Hellman Dermatology treating skin disease and providing cosmetic services.

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 contains no text and that image does not provide 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.
• New York State Human Rights Law
• New York City Human Rights Law
• New York State Civil Rights Law
• 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 the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, et seq., N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, et seq., and 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, Soffe.com, into full compliance with the requirements set forth in the ADA, and its implementing regulations, so that Soffe.com is readily accessible to and usable by blind individuals;
• A declaration that Defendant owns, maintains and/or operates its website, Soffe.com, in a manner which 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. Exec. Law § 296, et seq., and N.Y.C. Administrative Code § 8-107, et seq., and the laws of New York;
• An order certifying this case as a class action under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a) & (b)(2) and/or (b)(3), appointing Plaintiff as Class Representative, and his attorneys as Class Counsel;
• An order directing Defendants to continually update and maintain its website to ensure that it remains fully accessible to and usable by the visually-impaired;
• Compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by proof, including all applicable statutory damages and fines, to Plaintiff and the proposed class for violations of their civil rights under New York State Human Rights Law and City Law;
• Plaintiff’s reasonable attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs of suit as provided by state and federal law;
• For pre- and post-judgment interest to the extent permitted by law; and
• For such other and further relief which this court deems just and proper.