COTA v. ETHAN ALLEN RETAIL INC, ET AL

    Plaintiff

    • Name: Julissa Cota
    • Filing date: September 14, 2020
    • State of filing: California

    Defendant

    • Name: Ethan Allen Retail, Inc.
    • Website: www.ethanallen.com
    • Industry: Consumer Goods
    • Summary: Ethan Allen Inc. is an American furniture chain with about 300 stores across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.

    Case Summary

    On September 14, 2020, Julissa Cota filed a Complaint in California Federal court against Ethan Allen Retail, Inc. . Plaintiff Julissa Cota alleges that www.ethanallen.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
    • Linked Images missing alt-text, which causes problems if an image within a link does not contain any descriptive text and that image does not have alt-text

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

    • VIOLATIONS OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990, 42 U.S.C. §12181
    • VIOLATIONS OF THE UNRUH CIVIL RIGHTS ACT 

    Plaintiff seeks the following relief by way of its Complaint:

    • For an Order certifying the Nationwide Class and California Class as defined herein and appointing Plaintiff and her Counsel to represent the Nationwide Class and the California Class
    • A preliminary and permanent injunction pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 12188(a)(1) and (2) and section 52.1 of the California Civil Code enjoining Defendant from violating the Unruh Civil Rights Act and ADA and requiring Defendant to take the steps necessary to make https://www.soma.com/ readily accessible to and usable by visually impaired individuals
    • An award of statutory minimum damages of $4,000 per offense per person pursuant to section 52(a) of the California Civil Code.
    • For attorneys’ fees and expenses pursuant to California Civil Code §§ 52(a), 52.1(h), and 42 U.S.C. § 12205
    • For pre-judgment interest to the extent permitted by law
    • For costs of suit
    • For such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper

    Comments