Yankee Candle Class Action Alleges Website Design Denies Equal Access To Blind, Visually Impaired

Yankee Candle Website Access Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Kevin Yan Luis filed a class action lawsuit against The Yankee Candle Company, Inc. 
• Why: Yan Luis claims Yankee Candle failed to make the Chesapeake Bay Candle section of its website equally accessible to individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in New York federal court.

The Yankee Candle Company failed to design the Chesapeake Bay Candle section of its website in a way that would make it equally accessible to blind or visually impaired individuals, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Kevin Yan Luis claims Yankee Candle is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by  denying blind and visually impaired individuals equal access to its goods and services.

Yan Luis, who is legally blind, claims the Chesapeake Bay Candle section of Yankee Candle’s website contains thousands of access barriers that make it “difficult if not impossible” to navigate for blind or visually impaired individuals. 

The access barriers, Yan Luis argues, make it “impossible” to actually complete a transaction on the website, which excludes blind and visually impaired individuals from “the full and equal participation in the growing Internet economy that is increasingly a fundamental part of the common marketplace and daily living.”

Yankee Candle’s Website Uses Entirely Visual Interface Inaccessible To Blind, Visually Impaired 

The Chesapeake Bay Candle section of Yankee Candle’s website has an entirely visual interface, according to the class action lawsuit, which forces blind or visually impaired individuals to rely on “sighted companions” to assist them. 

Yan Luis argues further that it is even more important for blind and visually impaired individuals to be able to access websites and make purchases online than their sighted counterparts due to challenges with physical mobility. 

“By failing to make the website accessible to blind persons, Defendant is violating basic equal access requirements under both state and federal law,” the class action lawsuit states. 

In addition to violating the ADA, Yan Luis claims Yankee Candle is also in violation of the New York State Human Rights Law, the New York City Civil Rights Law and the New York City Human Rights Law. 

Yan Luis wants to represent a nationwide class and New York subclass of legally blind individuals who have been denied access to goods and services offered on the Chesapeake Bay Candle section of Yankee Candle’s website. 

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

A separate class action lawsuit was filed against Yankee Candle in 2019 over allegations the company sold the personal information of its customers to third-party data mining companies. 

Have you been denied equal access to Yankee Candle’s website? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Noor A. Saab of The Law Office of Noor A. Saab, PC. 

The Yankee Candle Website Access Class Action Lawsuit is Luis v. The Yankee Candle Company, Inc., Case No. 1:22-cv-02900, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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