Panarese et Al v. Coldwater Direct, LLC

Summary

On July 14, 2019, John Panarese Rusty Rendon filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against Coldwater Direct LLC . Plaintiff John Panarese Rusty Rendon alleges that www.coldwatercreek.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0 accessibility standard(s).

About the defendant

Coldwater Direct LLC operates Coldwater Creeks clothing and apparel retail stores.

What the complaint says

The problems the plaintiff describes with the website.

• Empty or missing form labels which presented a problem because if a form control does not have a properly associated text label, the function or purpose of that form control may not be presented to screen reader users.
• Empty headings, or headings that contain no content. Some users, especially keyboard and screen reader users, often navigate by heading elements. An empty heading will present no information and may introduce confusion
• Redundant Links

Legal claims

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

• Violations of the ADA
• Violations of the NYSHRL
• Violations of the Unruh Civil Rights Act

What the plaintiff asks for

What the plaintiff wants the court to order.

• For a judgment that Defendant violated Plaintiffs’ rights under the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq., Plaintiff Panarese’s rights under NYSHRL, N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, et seq., and Plaintiff Licea’s rights under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 51 et seq.
• For a preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendant to take the steps necessary to make the Website, www.coldwatercreek.com, readily accessible to and usable by visuallyimpaired individuals
• For compensatory and/or statutory damages as permitted by law
• For Plaintiffs’ reasonable attorneys’ fees and court costs
• For pre-judgment interest to the extent permitted by law
• For such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.