OLSEN v. ALLERGAN USA, INC.

    Plaintiff

    • Name: Thomas J. Olsen
    • Filing date: March 26, 2019
    • State of filing: New York

    Defendant

    • Name: Allergan USA, Inc.
    • Website: www.coolsculpting.com
    • Industry: Consumer Goods
    • Summary: Allergan USA, Inc. produces and distributes pharmaceutical products. CoolSculpting is a cryolipolysis (fat freezing) procedure.

    Case Summary

    On March 26, 2019, Thomas J. Olsen filed a Complaint in New York Federal court against Allergan USA, Inc.. Plaintiff Thomas J. Olsen alleges that www.coolsculpting.com is not accessible per the WCAG 2.0 accessibility standard(s).

    Case Details

    Plaintiff alleges issues in its Complaint including the following:

    • Some images are not even detected by the screen reader
    • A form was completely inaccessible to a screen reader
    • The link for “Proven Results” loads no new content
    • The map showing the locations of the centers was completely inaccessible
    • Plaintiff Olsen was unable to find a “CoolEvent”
    • Several elements throughout the Website are not detected by the screen reader
    • Filter and sort options do not function with the screen reader
    • Lack of alt-text for images
    • Document titles are blank
    • Webpages have no headings, headings are not nested correctly, and headings are empty
    • Frames do not have title attributes
    • Some pages have the same title so the title cannot be used to distinguish pages
    • Webpages have duplicate IDs which cause problems in screen readers
    • Several links on a page share the same link text but go to different destinations
    • Webpages have markup errors

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

    • VIOLATIONS OF THE ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq.
    • VIOLATIONS OF THE NYSHRL
    • VIOLATIONS OF THE NYCHRL
    • DECLARATORY RELIEF

    Plaintiff seeks the following relief by way of its Complaint:

    • A preliminary and permanent injunction to prohibit Defendant from violating Title III of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, et seq., N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, et seq., N.Y.C. Admin. 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 into full compliance with the requirements set forth in Title III of the ADA, and its implementing regulations, so that the Website is readily accessible to and usable by blind individuals
    • A declaration that Defendant owns, maintains and/or operates the Website in a manner that discriminates against the blind and which fails to provide access  for persons with disabilities as required by ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12182, et seq., N.Y. Exec. Law § 296, et seq., N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107, et seq., and the laws of New York
    • An order certifying the Class and Subclasses under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a) & (b)(2) and/or (b)(3), appointing Plaintiff as Class Representative, and his attorneys as Class Counsel
    • Compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by proof, including all applicable statutory damages, punitive damages and fines
    • Pre- and post-judgment interest
    • An award of costs and expenses of this action together with reasonable attorneys’ and expert fees
    • Such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper

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