WINEGARD v. VIKING RIVER CRUISES, INC.

    Plaintiff

    • Name: Jay Winegard
    • Filing date: September 23, 2020
    • State of filing: New York

    Defendant

    • Name: Viking River Cruises, Inc.
    • Website: www.viking.com
    • Industry: Hotel, Restaurant and Leisure
    • Summary: Viking is a cruise line providing river, ocean, and expedition cruises.

    Case Summary

    On September 23, 2020, Jay Winegard filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against Viking River Cruises, Inc. . Plaintiff Jay Winegard alleges that www.viking.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.1 accessibility standard(s).

    Case Details

    Plaintiff alleges issues in its Complaint including the following:

    • Plaintiff, and other deaf and hard of hearing individuals cannot understand the audio portion of videos on the Websites about Viking expeditions, ocean and river cruises, what kind of services offers, Viking Journeys, Destination Insights, Cultural Partners, Children’s Row: The World of Finse, The Viking World, Our Viking Family and Viking.tv that non - deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals can.
    • Defendant has videos on its Websites without closed captioning, or with limited closed captioning, which are inaccessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.

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

    • Violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act
    • Violation of New York State Human Rights Law
    • Violation of New York State Civil Rights Law
    • Violation of New York City Human Rights Law

    Plaintiff seeks the following relief by way of its Complaint:

    • A declaratory judgment pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 57 declaring the Defendant’s policies, procedures and practices are discriminatory against the Plaintiff in violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, The New York Human Rights Law, The New York City Human Rights Law and the laws of New York
    • Enjoining the Defendant from actions that deny deaf and hard of hearing individuals access to the full and equal enjoyment of Defendant’s Websites and 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
    • An Order of the Court requiring the Defendant to make the Websites fully compliant with the requirements set forth in the ADA, and its regulations, so that the Websites are readily accessible to and usable by deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals
    • An Order of the Court which certifies this case as a class action under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a) & (b)(2) and/or (b)(3); appointing Plaintiff as Class Representative; and his attorney as counsel for the Class
    • Compensatory damages, statutory penalties and fines for Plaintiff and the proposed Subclass for violations of their civil rights under New York State Human Rights Law and New York State Civil Rights Law
    • Compensatory damages, punitive damages, penalties and fines pursuant to the New York City Human Rights Law
    • Reasonable costs, disbursements and Plaintiff’s attorney fees pursuant to the ADA, New York Human Rights Law, New York City Human Rights Law and the laws of New York
    • For pre-judgment and post-judgment interest to the highest extent permitted by law
    • Such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper

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