DIAZ v. GOVBERG, LLC

    Plaintiff

    • Name: Edwin Diaz
    • Filing date: August 21, 2019
    • State of filing: New York

    Defendant

    • Name: Govberg, LLC
    • Website: www.thewatchbox.com
    • Industry: Apparel
    • Summary: Govberg LLC owns and operates www.thewatchbox.com, an online marketplace for luxury watches.

    Case Summary

    On August 21, 2019, Edwin Diaz filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against Govberg, LLC. Plaintiff Edwin Diaz alleges that www.thewatchbox.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.1 accessibility standard(s).

    Case Details

    Plaintiff alleges issues in its Complaint including the following:

    • 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.
    • Many pages on the Website also contain the same title elements.
    • Nor do many pages of the website adequately use LANG attributes to identify the language of the page, which leads to confusion to the visually-impaired. 
    • The Website also contains a host of broken links which is a hyperlink linked to a nonexistent or empty web page These barriers greatly aggravated Plaintiff’s experience on Defendant’s website and ultimately prevented Plaintiff from making a purchase.
    • Finally, the Website requires the use of a mouse to effectively browse. Plaintiff, however, is unable to do so because manipulating the mouse is a visual activity of moving the pointer from one visual spot on the page to another, and Plaintiff relies exclusively on keyboard functions to navigate the Web.

    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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