Guglielmo v. Nebraska Furniture Mart, Inc.,

Summary

On December 6, 2019, Joseph Guglielmo filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against Nebraska Furniture Mart, Inc.. Plaintiff Joseph Guglielmo alleges that www.nfm.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.1 accessibility standard(s).

About the defendant

Nebraska Furniture Mart, Inc. is a chain of retail furniture stores selling all manner of residential home furnishings, decor, and accessories.

What the complaint says

The problems the plaintiff describes with the website.

• Many features on the Website lacks alt. text, which is the invisible code embedded beneath a graphical image.
• Many features on the Website also fail to Add a label element or title attribute for each field. This is a problem for the visually impaired because the screen reader fails to communicate the purpose of the page element. It also leads to the user not being able to understand what he or she is expected to insert into the subject field.
• Many pages on the Website also contain the same title elements.
• The Website also contains a host of broken links, which is a hyperlink to a nonexistent or empty webpage.

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 City Human 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., N.Y.C. Administrative Code § 8-107, et seq., and the laws ofNew York;
• A preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendant to take all the steps necessary to make its Website into full compliance with the requirements set forth in the ADA, and its implementing regulations, so that the Website is readily accessible to and usable by blind individuals;
• A preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendant to take all the steps necessary to make the Website reservation system into full compliance with the requirements set forth in the ADA, and its implementing regulations, so that the Website contains the ADA-required information making their hotel and guest rooms accessible to and usable by blind and vision-impaired individuals;
• A declaration that Defendant owns, maintains and/or operates its Website in a manner that 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., N.Y.C. Administrative Code § 8-107, et seq., and the laws of New York;
• An order certifying the Class and Sub-Classes under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a) & (b)(2) and/or (b)(3), appointing Plaintiff as Class Representative, and his attorneys as Class Counsel;
• Compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by proof, including all applicable statutory and punitive damages and fines, to Plaintiff and the proposed class and subclasses for violations of their civil rights under New York State Human Rights Law and City Law;
• Pre- and post-judgment interest;
• An award of costs and expenses of the action together withreasonable attorneys’ and expert fees; and
• Such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper.