SHEILA BIGLANG-AWA v. BRUNELLO CUCINELLI USA RETAIL LLC

    Plaintiff

    • Name: Sheila Biglang-Awa
    • Filing date: July 18, 2019
    • State of filing: California

    Defendant

    • Name: Brunello Cucinelli USA Retail LLC
    • Website: shop.brunellocucinelli.com/en-us/
    • Industry: Apparel
    • Summary: Brunello Cucinelli USA Retail LLC is an Italian luxury fashion brand which sells menswear, women's wear and accessories.

    Case Summary

    On July 18, 2019, Sheila Biglang-Awa filed a Complaint in California State court against Brunello Cucinelli USA Retail LLC. Plaintiff Sheila Biglang-Awa alleges that shop.brunellocucinelli.com/en-us/ 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").
    • Plaintiff encountered multiple unlabeled or mislabeled buttons and links.
    • Plaintiff encountered multiple pages containing insufficient navigational headings requiring Plaintiff to expend substantial additional time to access information
    • Plaintiff was unable to sign up for the newsletter because of an inaccessible signup system
    • Plaintiff was unable to browse products because product links and descriptions were inaccessible to screen reading technology
    • Plaintiff was unable to make a purchase because of an inaccessible checkout system

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

    • Violation of 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 ofthis action Defendant owns, 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 took no action that was reasonably calculated to ensure that its Website is fully accessible to, and independently usable by blind and visuawy-impaired individuals in violation of California's Unruh Act, California Civil Code $ 51, er seq
    • A preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining Defendant from further violations ofthe UCRA, Civil Code II 51 er seq. with respect to "shop.burnellocucinelli.com/en-us/."
    • A preliminary and permanent injunction requiring Defendant to take the steps necessary to make shop.burnellocucinelli.com/en-us/ readily accessible to and usable by blind and visuallyimpaired individuals but Plaintiff hereby expressly limits the injunctive reliefto require that Defendant expend no more than $50,000 thereon
    • An award of statutory minimum statutory damages of not less than $4,000 per violation pursuant to tj 52(a} ofthe California Civil Code
    • An additional award of $4,000.00 as deterrence damages for each violation pursuant to Johnson v. Guedoir, 218 F. Supp. 3d 1096; 2016 U.S. Dist.LEXIS 150740 (USDC 5 Cal, E.D. 2016)
    • For attorneys'ees 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 ofsuit
    • For such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper

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