P.F. Chang’s Class Action Says Website Violates the ADA

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A potential class action lawsuit accuses P.F. Chang’s China Bistro of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act for failing to make its website accessible to blind customers.

Lead plaintiff Jose Del-Orden alleges in his class action lawsuit that the Chinese food chain provides a number of goods and services on its website, including food specials and job offerings, but the website also “contains thousands of access barriers that make it difficult if not impossible for blind customers to use.” The complaint states that P.F. Chang’s website violates the federal American with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards as well as state law.

The plaintiff claims that he visited P.F. Chang’s website to independently browse the restaurant’s menu, but because P.F. Chang’s website relies on “pop-ups” and other technology, it makes the website inaccessible to blind and visually impaired people, and he was unable to independently navigate the site.

“In the wave of technological advances in recent years, assistive computer technology is becoming an increasingly prominent part of everyday life, allowing blind people to fully and independently access a variety of services, including ordering small plates, dim sum, main entrees, and more,” the lawsuit states.

However, “[d]espite readily available accessible technology, such as the technology in use at other heavily trafficked retail website, which makes use of alternative text, accessible forms, descriptive links, resizable text and limits the usage of tables and javascript,” continued the plaintiff. “Defendant has chosen to rely on an exclusively visual interface, including pop-up forms that are inaccessible.”

“P.F. Chang’s sighted customers can independently browse, select, and buy small plates, entrees, and desserts online without the assistance of others,” alleges the plaintiff. “However, blind people must rely on sighted companions or strangers to assist them in accessing and buying food on Pfchangs.com. By failing to make the website accessible to blind persons, Defendant is violating basic equal access requirements under both state and federal law.”

The plaintiff argues that the ADA was enacted to eliminate discrimination against individuals with disabilities. “Such discrimination includes barriers to full integration, independent living, and equal opportunity for persons with disabilities, including those barriers created by websites and other public accommodations that are inaccessible to blind and visually impaired persons. Similarly, New York state law requires places of public accommodation to ensure access to goods, services and facilities by making reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities,” said the plaintiff in his complaint.

According to the class action lawsuit, the plaintiff is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief in the form of a court order requiring P.F. Chang’s to correct its policies and practices and remove accessibility barriers on its website, along with damages for the proposed Class.

The plaintiff seeks to represent a nationwide Class of “all legally blind individuals in the United States who have attempted to access Pfchangs.com and as a result have been denied access to the enjoyment of goods and services offered in P.F. Chang’s Restaurants, during the relevant statutory period,” along with a subclass of New York residents.

Del-Orden is represented by C.K. Lee and Anne Seelig of Lee Litigation Group, PLLC.

The P.F. Chang’s ADA Class Action Lawsuit is Del-Orden v. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc., Case No. 1:16-cv-02392, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.