FISCHLER v. CATHERINE M. ZADEH, INC.

    Plaintiff

    • Name: Brian Fischler
    • Filing date: December 11, 2020
    • State of filing: New York

    Defendant

    • Name: Catherine M. Zadeh, Inc.
    • Website: www.zadehny.com
    • Industry: Apparel
    • Summary: Catherine M. Zadeh, Inc. manufactures and sells men's and women's casual wear under the Zadeh New York brand name.

    Case Summary

    On December 11, 2020, Brian Fischler filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against Catherine M. Zadeh, Inc.. Plaintiff Brian Fischler alleges that www.zadehny.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0 accessibility standard(s).

    Case Details

    Plaintiff alleges issues in its Complaint including the following:

    • Lack of alt-text for images.
    • Fieldset elements are not labeled with legend elements.
    • Links use general text like “click here” or “here” with no surrounding text explaining the link purpose.
    • Frames do not have a title.
    • PDFs are not tagged and therefore are inaccessible to screen readers. For example, the “sizing guide” is a PDF that is inaccessible to screen readers.
    • Some pages have the same title so the title cannot be used to distinguish pages.
    • Forms have fields without label elements or title attributes.
    • Webpages have duplicate IDs, which cause problems with screen readers.
    • Radio button groups are not contained in a fieldset element.
    • Form field labels are not unique on a page or enclosed in a fieldset with a legend that makes the label unique.
    • Webpages have no headings, headings are not nested correctly and some headings are empty.
    • Several links on a page share the same link text but go to different destinations.
    • Webpages have markup errors.

    Plaintiff asserts the following cause(s) of action in its Complaint:

    • Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq. 
    • New York State Human Rights Law
    • New York City Human Rights Law
    • Declaratory Relief

    Plaintiff seeks the following relief by way of its Complaint:

    • A preliminary and permanent injunction to prohibit Defendant
      from violating Title III of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, et seq., N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, et seq., N.Y.C. Admin. 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 into full compliance with the requirements set forth in Title III of the ADA, and its implementing regulations, so that the Website is readily accessible to and usable by blind individuals;
    • A declaration that Defendant owns, maintains and/or operates the Website in a manner that discriminates against the blind and which fails to provide access for persons with disabilities as required by ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, et seq., N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, et seq., N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107, et seq., and the laws of New York
    • An order certifying the Class and Subclasses 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 damages, punitive damages and fines;
    • Pre- and post-judgment interest;
    • An award of costs and expenses of this action together with
      reasonable attorneys’ and expert fees; and
    • Such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper. 

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