Jennifer Carbine v. Acu Development, LLC

Summary

On May 31, 2019, Jennifer Carbine filed a Complaint in California State court against ACU Development, LLC . Plaintiff Jennifer Carbine alleges that www.modernacupuncture.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0, Section 508 accessibility standard(s).

About the defendant

ACU Development, LLC operates Modern Acupuncture which offers acupuncture services and other wellness focused services.

What the complaint says

The problems the plaintiff describes with the website.

• The home page has graphics, links. and buttons that are not labeled or are incorrectly labeled, or lack alternative text
• Plaintiff encountered multiple unlabeled or mislabeled buttons and links
• Plaintiff encountered multiple pages containing insufficient navigational headings requiring Plaintiff to expend substantial additional time to access information
• Plaintiff was unable to make a purchase because of an inaccessible checkout system

Legal claims

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

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

What the plaintiff asks for

What the plaintiff wants the court to order.

• A Declaratory Judgment that at the commencement ofthis action Defendant owns, maintains, and/or operates its website in a manner which discriminates against the blind, fails to provide access to blind or visually-impaired individuals, and that Defendant took no action that was reasonably calculated to ensure that its website is fullyaccessible to, and independently usable by blind and visually-impaired individuals in violation ofCalifornia’s Unruh Act, California Civil Code 51, et seq
• A preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining Defendant from further violations ofthe UCRA, Civil Code 51 et seq. with respect to www.modernacupuncture.com
• A preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendant to take the steps necessary to make modernacupuncture.com readily accessible to and usable by blind and visually-impaired individuals but Plaintiff hereby expressly limits the Injunctive reliefto require that Defendant expend no more than $ 50,000 thereon
• An award ofstatutory minimum statutory damages ofnot less than $4,000 per violation pursuant to 52(a) ofthe California CivilCode
• An additional award of $4,000.00 as deterrence damages for each violation pursuant to Johnson v. Guedoir, 218 F. Supp. 3d 1096; 2016 U.S. Dist.LEXIS 150740 (USDC Cal, E.D. 2016)
• For attorneys' fees and expenses pursuant to all applicable laws including, without limitation, CivilCode 52(a);
• For pre-judgment interest to the extent permitted by law
• For costs of suit
• For such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper