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Our attorneys stay on top of changes in legislation, agency regulations, case law, and industry trends—then craft timely legal alerts to keep clients up to date on legal developments important to their business.

July 2, 2025

Website Accessibility Lawsuits: Several "Tester" Plaintiffs—Wislande Claude, Felipe Fernandez, Howard Wilson, Lisa Cantwell, and Erika Alexandria—Targeting Businesses in Recent Flurry of Lawsuits

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.

There has been a recent surge in lawsuits filed by several of these plaintiffs, including Wislande Claude, Felipe Fernandez, Howard Wilson, Lisa Cantwell, and Erika Alexandria, who, according to court records, have collectively filed 166 website accessibility lawsuits, many of which were filed within the last few months. These plaintiffs are all represented by Stein Saks PLLC, which has filed more than 2,400 similar lawsuits in federal court.

  • Claude has filed 13 lawsuits in 2025 (and 21 total lawsuits since July 2024).
  • Fernandez has filed 22 lawsuits in 2025 (and 70 total lawsuits since May 2024).
  • Wilson filed nine lawsuits in 2025 (and 20 total lawsuits since September 2024).
  • Cantwell has filed 19 lawsuits in 2025 (and 35 total lawsuits since July 2024).
  • Alexandria has filed 12 lawsuits since May 2, 2025 (and 20 total lawsuits since November 2024).

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 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 & Complex Trials Practice Areas or Hotels, Hospitality & Food Service Team.
 

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