Lululemon ADA Class Action Settlement Approved

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Preliminary approval was given to a class action settlement by a Florida federal judge in a class action lawsuit, allegeing that clothing company Lululemon USA Inc. has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not providing point-of-sale machines that can be used by a blind person.

In addition to approving the class action settlement on Friday, U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles also certified the class in the Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit, which was filed by blind man plaintiff David New along with the Florida nonprofit advocacy group Access Now, Inc.

New filed seven ADA class action lawsuits in February over the same ADA violations against Lululemon, Guess? Inc., Anthropologie Inc., Lucky Brand Dungaree Stores Inc., Bath & Body Works LLC, Disney Store USA LLC and Fossil Inc.

The Lululemon class action lawsuit was the only one that was still pending. The others had mixed results, with the Lucky Brand Jeans class action lawsuit being dismissed, even though the Justice Department had filed a statement of interest in the ADA class action lawsuit.

All seven retailers were accused of providing point-of-sale machines, which are used by customers when making purchases with credit or debit cards, that were not textured, but contained touch-screens that could not be accessed by those who are blind, without allegedly putting the blind or visually impaired customers in the position of having to disclose their personal identification numbers, and putting them at greater risk for bank fraud.

“Plaintiffs contend that Lululemon’s use of the touch screen POS Devices discriminates against blind and visually impaired consumers in violation of the ADA,” Judge Gayles wrote.

While “Lululemon strongly denies plaintiffs’ allegations and claims,” the clothing retailer, in order to avoid any further legal costs it has agreed to this class action settlement.

According to the terms of the settlement,  all Lululemon stores will begin the process of adding at least one VeriFone MX 915 Tactile PIN Pads by Jan. 1, 2015 that will “be programmed so that blind and visually-impaired customers may independently perform the same POS functions, that may be performed by fully-sighted customers using the VeriFone MX 915 Device without utilizing the Tactile PIN Pad.”

The new machines must be in place by May 31, according to the agreement.

Lululemon is also required to replace any other existing point-of-sale machines with the new visually impaired compliant machines when it comes time to replace its current system.

Lululemon will also pay $37,000 in attorneys fees for New’s lawyers. New and Access Now will also be given $7,000 in cash and $7,000 in Lululemon gift cards.

New had asked that the Florida federal judge issue a declaration that Lululemon had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and be required to replace all if its point-of-sale machines in compliance with the federal law.

Similar lawsuits have also been filed other plaintiffs against Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., Kay Jewelers, Express Inc., Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc., Littman Jewelers, Madewell and Wawa Inc.

New and Access Now Inc. are represented by Andrew B. Boese, Derek Leon and Tiffany L. Anderson of Leon Cosgrove LLC.

Lululemon is represented by Edward Colin Thompson and Frederick Howard Lebron McClure of DLA Piper LLP.

The Lululemon Americans with Disabilities Act Class Action Lawsuit is New v. Lululemon USA Inc., Case No. 1:14-cv-20589, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.