We continue to report on the plethora of serial plaintiffs who have collectively filed thousands of website accessibility lawsuits, primarily against small businesses, in state and federal courts throughout the country. These lawsuits generally allege that these businesses’ websites are inaccessible to visually impaired individuals who use screen-reading software, thus denying them full and equal access to the goods or services offered on the websites.
Several relatively new plaintiffs are now on the scene, including Derrick Anderson, Kevin Beauchamp, Naeelah Murray, Jenisa Angeles, Frankie Monegro, and Justin Bullock, who, according to court records, have collectively filed 129 website accessibility lawsuits, the vast majority of which were filed in recent months.
- Anderson has filed 25 lawsuits since March 8, 2024, and Beauchamp has filed 17 lawsuits since February 9, 2024. They are represented by Mars Khaimov, who has filed more than 1,400 similar lawsuits.
- Murray has filed 18 lawsuits since February 23, 2024; Angeles has filed 29 lawsuits since July 10, 2023; and Monegro has filed 19 lawsuits since July 10, 2023. They are represented by Mizrahi Kroub LLP, which has filed more than 3,000 similar lawsuits in federal court and, recently, hundreds more in New York State courts.
- Bullock has filed 22 lawsuits since August 8, 2023, including six new lawsuits in 2024. He was previously represented by Mars Khaimov, and he is currently represented by Shaked Law Group, PC, which has filed more than 1,200 lawsuits in federal court and, recently, nearly 75 more in New York State courts.
As we have reported on numerous occasions, both state and federal lawmakers have taken steps in recent years to curb website accessibility lawsuits; however, to date, no legislation has been passed. In the absence of legislation or regulations promulgated by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), we recommend that businesses operating a website, mobile application, or both take steps to ensure that these online systems are accessible to users with disabilities and otherwise comply with federal, state, and local disability laws in accordance with DOJ guidance issued in March 2022.
In the unfortunate event your business is served with one of these website accessibility lawsuits, please do not hesitate to contact the attorneys at Barclay Damon. We will continue to monitor the development of these cases.
If you have any questions regarding the content of this alert, please contact Rob Thorpe, partner, at rthorpe@barclaydamon.com, or another member of the firm’s Labor & Employment or Commercial Litigation Practice Areas or Hotels, Hospitality & Food Service Team.
The Labor & Employment Podcast is an award-winning biweekly Barclay Damon Live presentation that keeps you updated on all things employees. Our Barclay Damon hosts and their guests discuss state and federal anti-harassment and discrimination laws; wage and hour and misclassification audits; onboarding, disciplining, and offboarding employees; enforcing restrictive covenants; and other topics of interest to employers. Click here to watch or listen to the Labor & Employment Podcast, and click here to watch or listen to Barclay Damon’s other award-winning biweekly podcast series, Cyber Sip™.