REBECCA CASTILLO V. THE SIT DOWN MELROSE LLC

    Plaintiff

    • Name: Rebecca Castillo
    • Filing date: April 19, 2019
    • State of filing: California

    Defendant

    • Name: The Sit Down Melrose LLC
    • Website: www.thesitdownla.com
    • Industry: Hotel, Restaurant and Leisure
    • Summary: The Sit Down Melrose LLC owns and operates the restaurant, The Sit Down Italian Kitchen in Los Angeles.

    Case Summary

    On April 19, 2019, Rebecca Castillo filed a Complaint in California State court against The Sit Down Melrose LLC. Plaintiff Rebecca Castillo alleges that www.thesitdownla.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0, Section 508 accessibility standard(s).

    Case Details

    Plaintiff alleges issues in its Complaint including the following:

    • The home page has graphics, links, and buttons that are not labeled or are incorrectly labeled, or lack alternative text ("Alt-text");
    • Multiple unlabeled or mislabeled buttons and links. Without descriptive alternate text, Screen reader users, have no clue about the purpose or function of the button or link;
    • Multiple pages containing insufficient navigational headings requiring Plaintiff to expend substantial additional time to access information;
    • Unable to browse the menu because menu links and descriptions were inaccessible to screen reading technology;
    • Unable to make a purchase because of an inaccessible checkout system.

     

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

    Unruh Civil Rights Act, California Civil Code § 51 et seq. 

    Plaintiff seeks the following relief by way of its Complaint:

    • A Declaratory Judgment that at the commencement of this action Defendantvowns, maintains, and/or operates its Website in a manner which discriminates against the
      blind, fails to provide access to blind or visually-impaired individuals, and that Defendant tookvno action that was reasonably calculated to ensure that its Website is fully accessible to, andvindependently usable by blind and visually-impaired individuals in violation of California’s
      Unruh Act, California Civil Code § 51 , et seq;
    • A preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining Defendant from furthervviolations of the UCRA, Civil Code § 51 et seq. with respect to “www.thesitdownla.com.”
    • A preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendant to take the stepsvnecessary to make www.thesitdownla.com readily accessible to and usable by blind andvvisually-impaired individuals but Plaintiff hereby expressly limits the injunctive relief tovrequire that Defendant expend no more than $50,000 thereon;
    • An award of statutory minimum statutory damages of not less than $4,000 pervviolation pursuant to § 52(a) of the California Civil Code;
    • An additional award of $4,000.00 as deterrence damages for each violationvpursuant to Johnson v. Guedoir, 218 F. Supp. 3d 1096; 2016 U.S. Dist.LEXIS 150740 (USDC Cal, E.D. 2016);
    • For attorneys’ fees and expenses pursuant to all applicable laws including, without limitation, Civil Code § 52(a);
    • For pre-judgment interest to the extent permitted by law;
    • For costs of suit; and,
    • For such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper. 

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