Coinstar Class Action Says Coin Machines Don’t Comply with ADA

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A class action lawsuit filed by a California man says Coinstar coin exchange machines fail to provide equal access to visually-impaired users, in violation of the ADA.

Plaintiff Brett Boyer says the Coinstar coin exchange machines produced by defendant Outerwall Inc. are designed in such a way that prevents visually impaired persons from using them. Boyer argues these machines, as public accommodations, violate the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA.

According to this class action lawsuit, Coinstar machines allow customers to turn in their excess loose change in exchange for either cash or “stored value products” like a printed voucher or an eGift card that functions like a gift certificate for a particular merchant.

Customers choosing the cash option pay a fee of at least 10 percent of the amount of coins deposited. Users can also choose to donate their coins to charitable causes. All these selections can only be made by using the touch screen, Boyer says.

Outerwall places these Coinstar machines in existing retail locations like supermarkets, malls, drug stores and convenience stores. The company owns and operates over 15,000 such Coinstar machines in locations across the U.S. and over 1,000 in Boyer’s home state of California, he says.

Boyer claims that because these Coinstar machines require customers to use an all-visual interface on a touchscreen, their services are restricted to sighed persons. The machines offer no adaptive features that would allow visually-impaired persons to use them, he says.

As a result, Boyer claims visually-impaired persons have to get help from a third party to use these Coinstar machines. Asking for help further requires the user to disclose the amount of coins deposited and the value of the cash or eGift card received, he says.

Therefore, “all Coinstar kiosks are effectively not independently accessible to visually-impaired individuals,” Boyer argues.

Boyer says that in October of last year he used a Coinstar machine at a grocery store in San Marcos, Calif. Since Boyer himself is legally blind, he had to rely on another person to help him use the machine, he claims.

Boyer argues the technology exists to make Coinstar machines accessible to visually-impaired users – technology that has long been used in similar machines like ATMs. Yet defendant Outerwall has failed to implement similar modifications in its Coinstar machines, he says.

The Coinstar class action lawsuit raises claims under the ADA and also under California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which according to Boyer makes any violation of the ADA, a violation of California state law. He is also raising one claim under California’s Disabled Persons Act.

Boyer is proposing to represent a plaintiff Class consisting of ““all legally blind individuals who have been and/or are being denied access to Coinstar kiosks within the state of California.”

He seeks an injunction that would require Outerwall to bring its Coinstar machines into ADA compliance. He also seeks an award of statutory damages, court costs and attorneys’ fees.

Boyer is represented by attorney Meghan S. Maertz, Gerald D. Wells III and Stephen E. Connolly of Connolly Wells & Gray LLP and Arkady “Eric” Rayz and Demetri A. Braynin of Kalikhman & Rayz LLC.

The Coinstar Disability Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Brett Boyer v. Outerwall Inc., Case No. 3:16-cv-02745, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.