Ralph Lauren class action lawsuit claims website not fully accessible to blind, visually impaired

Ralph Lauren website class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Vivian Salazar filed a class action lawsuit against Ralph Lauren Corp.
• Why: Salazar claims Ralph Lauren is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by allegedly failing to make its website fully and equally accessible to and independently usable by individuals who are blind or visually impaired. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court. 

Ralph Lauren failed to design, construct, maintain and operate its website so that it would be fully and equally accessible to and independently usable by individuals who are blind or visually impaired, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Vivian Salazar claims Ralph Lauren’s website contains access barriers to screen-reading software used by individuals who are blind or visually impaired when using the internet. 

The plaintiff, who is legally blind, argues the alleged access barriers on Ralph Lauren’s website denies individuals who are blind or visually impaired from full and equal access to the products and services found on it, in an alleged violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

“Defendant’s website is subject to the ADA because it provides methods by which consumers can access the goods and services offered in Defendant’s brick-and-mortar retail stores,” the Ralph Lauren class action states. 

The plaintiff wants to represent a nationwide class of legally blind individuals who have attempted to access Ralph Lauren’s website using screen-reading software since January 2022 and a class from California who attempted to access Ralph Lauren’s website from January 2022 to July 31, 2023. 

Ralph Lauren site allegedly contains ‘numerous’ access barriers to screen-reading software 

Salazar argues Ralph Lauren’s website contains “numerous” access barriers to screen-reading software, including, among other things, buttons and links that allegedly lack accessible names. 

“These and other coding failures have prevented visually impaired users, such as Plaintiff and Class Members, from accessing the goods and services offered through Defendant’s website,” the Ralph Lauren class action states. 

In addition to allegedly violating the ADA, the plaintiff claims, Ralph Lauren is violating California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act. She is demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory and injunctive relief along with an award of statutory damages for herself and all class members. 

A separate class action lawsuit was filed against Ralph Lauren in May 2022 by a consumer arguing the company falsely advertised that some of its sweaters were made entirely from Pima cotton. 

Have you attempted to access Ralph Lauren’s website using screen-reading software? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Thiago M. Coelho, Shahin Rezvani, Jennifer M. Leinbach, Jesenia A. Martinez and Jesse S. Chen of the Wilshire Law Firm PLC. 

The Ralph Lauren website class action lawsuit is Salazar v. Ralph Lauren Corp., et al., Case No. 3:23-cv-06669, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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