DIAZ v. ACADEMY, LTD.

    Plaintiff

    • Name: Edwin Diaz
    • Filing date: June 19, 2019
    • State of filing: New York

    Defendant

    • Name: Academy, LTD.
    • Website: www.academy.com
    • Industry: Leisure Products
    • Summary: Academy, LTD. owns and operates the Academy Sports & Outdoors retail chain selling sporting goods, outdoor gear, apparel, accessories, and a wide array of related products.

    Case Summary

    On June 19, 2019, Edwin Diaz filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against Academy, LTD.. Plaintiff Edwin Diaz alleges that www.academy.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.1 accessibility standard(s).

    Case Details

    Plaintiff alleges issues in its Complaint including the following:

    • Website lacks prompting information necessary to allow Plaintiff to locate and narrow down a specific field of desired products and price range.
    • The Website contained a host of broken links, which prevented Plaintiff from browsing the Men’s Section of the Website. 
    • The Website also requires the use of a mouse to effectively browse and make a purchase, as well as to create an account.
    • Nor did the Website provide Plaintiff with the ability to skim content, as Plaintiff was forced to manually scroll, line by line, in an effort to browse content of interest located toward the bottom of a given page

    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
    • New York State Civil Rights Law
    • Declaratory Relief

    Plaintiff seeks the following relief by way of its Complaint:

    • 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 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 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 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 with
      reasonable attorneys’ and expert fees; and
    • Such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper. 

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