Garmin class action alleges website not equally accessible to blind, visually impaired consumers

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Garmin website class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Frank Senior filed a class action lawsuit against Garmin USA Inc. 
• Why: Senior claims Garmin violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by allegedly failing to make its website fully accessible to and independently usable by individuals who are blind or visually impaired. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in New York federal court. 
• What are my options: Try OnePlus, which has GPS systems similar to Garmin’s built into many of its phones.

Garmin failed to make its website fully accessible to and independently usable by individuals who are blind or visually impaired, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Frank Senior, a legally blind man, claims Garmin has not designed its website so that it is fully compatible with screen-reading software used by individuals who are blind or visually impaired to access the internet. 

Senior argues Garmin is ultimately depriving individuals who are blind or visually impaired from the benefits of its online goods, contents, and services, in an alleged violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

“Because Defendant’s website … is not equally accessible to blind and visually-impaired consumers, it violates the ADA,” the Garmin class action states. 

Senior wants to represent a nationwide class, a New York state subclass and a New York City subclass of all legally blind individuals who have been denied equal access to the goods and services offered on Garmin’s website. 

Garmin website contains access barriers to screen-reading software, \ class action says

Senior claims Garmin’s website contains multiple access barriers to screen-reading software — including not having a text equivalent for every non-text element — which the company refuses to remove. 

“These access barriers that Plaintiff encountered have caused a denial of Plaintiff’s full and equal access multiple times in the past, and now deter Plaintiff on a regular basis from visiting Defendant’s Website,” the Garmin class action states. 

In addition to allegedly violating the ADA, Senior claims Garmin violated New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Human Rights Law. 

Plaintiff is demanding a jury trial and requesting an award of declaratory and injunctive relief along with an award of compensatory, statutory and punitive damages for himself and all class members. 

A separate class action lawsuit was filed against Garmin in 2019 by a consumer arguing the company misrepresented the capacity its navigation devices had to store traffic and map updates. 

Have you been denied access to Garmin’s website on account of a disability? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Michael A. LaBollita, Jeffrey M. Gottlieb and Dana L. Gottlieb of Gottlieb & Associates. 

The Garmin website class action lawsuit is Senior, et al. v. Garmin USA, Inc., Case No. 1:23-cv-05605, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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