PANARESE v. ACKER MERRALL & CONDIT COMPANY

    Plaintiff

    • Name: John Panarese
    • Filing date: August 2, 2019
    • State of filing: New York

    Defendant

    • Name: Acker Merrall & Condit Company
    • Website: www.ackerwines.com
    • Industry: Food Products
    • Summary: Acker Merrall & Condit Company manufactures and sells a wide variety of wines and alcoholic beverages under the Acker Wines brand name.

    Case Summary

    On August 2, 2019, John Panarese filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against Acker Merrall & Condit Company. Plaintiff John Panarese alleges that www.ackerwines.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 Alternative Text (“alt-text”), or a text equivalent.
    • Empty Links That Contain No Text causing the function or purpose of the link to not be presented to the user. 
    • Redundant Links where adjacent links go to the same URL address which results in additional navigation and repetition for keyboard and screen-reader users; and
    • Linked Images Missing Alt-text, which causes problems if an image within a link contains no text and that image does not provide alt-text.

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

    • Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq. 
    • Unruh Civil Rights Act, California Civil Code § 51 et seq.

    Plaintiff seeks the following relief by way of its Complaint:

    • For a judgment that Defendant violated Plaintiffs’ rights under the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq., Plaintiff Panarese’s rights under NYSHRL, N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, et seq., and Plaintiff Licea’s rights under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 51 et seq.;
    • For a preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendant to take the steps necessary to make the Website, www.ackerwines.com, readily accessible to and usable by
      visually-impaired individuals;
    • For compensatory and/or statutory damages as permitted by law;
    • For Plaintiffs’ reasonable attorneys’ fees and court costs;
    • For pre-judgment interest to the extent permitted by law; and
    • For such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper. 

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