FIGUEROA v. NEWTON RUNNING COMPANY, INC.

    Plaintiff

    • Name: Jose Figueroa
    • Filing date: April 4, 2019
    • State of filing: New York

    Defendant

    • Name: Newton Running Company, Inc.
    • Website: www.newtonrunning.com
    • Industry: Apparel
    • Summary: Newton Running Company, Inc. produces and sells performance running shoes.

    Case Summary

    On April 4, 2019, Jose Figueroa filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against Newton Running Company, Inc.. Plaintiff Jose Figueroa alleges that www.newtonrunning.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.1 accessibility standard(s).

    Case Details

    Plaintiff alleges issues in its Complaint including the following:

    • Website requires the use of a mouse to make a purchase. Yet Plaintiff cannot use a mouse because manipulating the mouse is a visual activity of moving the mouse pointer from one visual spot on the page to another.
    • The Website contained a host of broken links, which prevented Plaintiff from purchasing the Newton Men’s Gravity 8 Sneakers from the Men’s section of the Website. Specifically, Plaintiff was presented with error messages such as, “Sorry The Page You Requested Was Not Found” and “Error Code 404.”
    • Plaintiff was unable to create an account and set up a profile with his screen reading software, as he was required to use a mouse in order to input the requested information into the designated fields.
    • The Website also lacks prompting information necessary to allow Plaintiff to locate and narrow down a specific field of desired products and price range. This omission was exacerbated by the lack of alt. text, which is the invisible code embedded
      beneath a graphical image on a website.
    • 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.
    • Finally, although the Website did provide a Chat feature, it was not a live chat and Plaintiff was unable to effectively communicate his questions and concerns which would in effect aid his browsing experience.

    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., and 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, Soffe.com, into full compliance with the requirements set forth in the ADA, and its implementing regulations, so that Soffe.com is readily accessible to and usable by blind individuals;
    • A declaration that Defendant owns, maintains and/or operates its website, Soffe.com, in a manner which 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., and N.Y.C. Administrative Code § 8-107, et seq., and the laws of New York;
    • An order certifying 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 attorneys as Class Counsel;
    • An order directing Defendants to continually update and maintain its website to ensure that it remains fully accessible to and usable by the visually-impaired;
    • Compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by proof, including all applicable statutory damages and fines, to Plaintiff and the proposed class for violations of their civil rights under New York State Human Rights Law and City Law;
    • Plaintiff’s reasonable attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs of suit as provided by state and federal law;
    • For pre- and post-judgment interest to the extent permitted by law; and
    • For such other and further relief which this court deems just and proper.

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