Michael A. Kakuk  |  May 2, 2016

Category: Consumer News

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potbelly class actionA class action lawsuit accuses Potbelly Sandwich Works LLC, owner of a chain of sandwich restaurants, of not making its website available to blind people, in violation of anti-discrimination laws.

“Defendant is denying blind individuals throughout the United States equal access to the goods and services Potbelly provides to their non-disabled customers through http://www.potbelly.com,” according to the complaint.

The Potbelly sandwich website discrimination class action lawsuit states that “assistive computer technology” exists which allows “blind people to fully and independently access a variety of services, including online shopping.” However, the Potbelly sandwich website contains “access barriers” which makes it “impossible for blind users to even complete a transaction on the website,” the class action asserts.

The term “access barriers” comes from the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), which makes it illegal to discriminate against persons with disabilities, by having “access barriers” which do not allow equal access to public facilities, according to the class action. The complaint argues that the Potbelly sandwich website contains such access barriers, because it does not use “well-established guidelines for making websites accessible to blind people” that “have been around for several years.”

Plaintiff Christhian Diaz states that he is legally blind, and attempted multiple times to order a sandwich and soup from the Potbelly Sandwich Works website, but was unable to. Specifically, the Potbelly sandwich website does not use “alternative text,” which is invisible text behind images and pictures on the internet that can be picked up by screen reading programs used by blind people to read to them what the images contain.

Second, the complaint alleges that the Potbelly website does not use alternative text to properly explain its image maps to the blind, but which sighted people can use to jump to various pages on the website. Third, the class action points to Potbelly website’s lack of prompting information, which allows blind people to locate and fill out forms on a website. Finally, the complaint accuses Potbelly Sandwich Works of designing a website which “requires the use of a mouse to complete a transaction,” which is a fundamentally visual activity.

“Due to Potbelly.com’s inaccessibility, Plaintiff and blind customers must in turn spend time, energy, and/or money to make their purchases at a Potbelly restaurant,” the class action contends. Furthermore, the complaint points out that blind people may need assistance to travel to such restaurants. Regardless, the class action argues that blocking access to online ordering by the legally blind is discriminatory under the ADA.

The Potbelly Sandwich website discrimination lawsuit seeks to represent a Class of “all legally blind individuals in the United States who have attempted to access Potbelly.com and as a result have been denied access to the enjoyment of goods and services offered in Potbelly Restaurants.” The class action requests damages for discrimination under the ADA, as well as a court order requiring Potbelly Sandwich Works to comply with the ADA, and make its website accessible by the legally blind.

Diaz is represented by C.K. Lee, Anne Seelig, and Lynn Hsieh of the Lee Litigation Group, PLLC.

The Potbelly Sandwich Website Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Chisthian Diaz v. Potbelly Sandwich Works LLC, Case No. 1:16-cv-02915, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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One thought on Potbelly Class Action Says Sandwich Website is not ADA Compliant

  1. brian mocilnikarr says:

    Add me, Pot Belly! You should be ashamed! How are we supposed to order from the app?

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