Mageno v. Santa Monica Seafood

Summary

On December 20, 2019, Perla Mageno filed a Complaint in California State court against Santa Monica Seafood. Plaintiff Perla Mageno alleges that www.santamonicaseafood.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0, Section 508 accessibility standard(s).

About the defendant

Santa Monica Seafood is the largest commercial seafood distributor in the Southwestern United States.

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 ("Alt-text");
• Multiple unlabeled or mislabeled buttons and links. Without descriptive alternate text, Screen reader users, have no clue about the purpose or function of the button or link;
• Multiple pages containing insufficient navigational headings requiring Plaintiff to expend substantial additional time to access information;
• Unable to browse the menu because menu links and descriptions were inaccessible to screen reading technology;
• 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.

• 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 of this action Defendant owns, maintains, and/or operates its Website in a manner which discriminates against theblind, 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 fully accessible to, and independently usable by blind and visually-impaired individuals in violation of California’s Unruh Act, California Civil Code Section 51, et seq;
• A preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining Defendant from further violations of the UCRA, Civil Code Section 51 et seq. with respect to "santamonicaseafood.com."
• A preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendant to take the steps necessary to make santamonicaseafood.com readily accessible to and usable by blind and visually-impaired individuals but Plaintiff hereby expressly limits the injunctive relief to require that Defendant expend no more than $ 50,000 thereon;
• Plaintiff seeks no relief related to any architectural barriers to access in this Complaint and expressly limits all claims to injunctive relief to modifications of Defendant’s policies and procedures related to the Website;
• An award of statutory minimum statutory damages of not less than $4,000 per violation pursuant to Section 52(a) of the California Civil Code;
• 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’ees and expenses pursuant to all applicable laws including, without limitation, Civil Code Section 52(a);
• For pre-judgment interest to the extent permitted by law;
• For costs of suit; and,
• For such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper.