Guess Debit Card Machines Aren’t Accessible to Blind Shoppers, Class Action Says

Clothing retailer Guess Inc. is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by not having touch screens that can be used by those who are visually impaired, a blind woman alleges in a class action lawsuit.

Plaintiff Maria Santos alleges that because Guess provides point-of-sale machines that are touch screens and cannot be read by a blind person, it puts her and other visually impaired individuals in the position of having to disclose their private information in order to complete a purchase.

“[Guess’] noncompliance threatens blind people with the loss of their private banking information,” Santos said in the Guess ADA class action lawsuit. “Blind people who wish to make a debit purchase at [Guess’] stores have no choice but to reveal their private PINs to others.”

Santos says that Guess is violating Title III of the federal disability law as well as California’s civil rights laws by not providing point-of-sale machines that can be used by those who are visually impaired.

Santos says that she shopped at a Guess store in Northridge, California on Feb. 13, where she tried to buy some items “with a debit card but was unable to make the purchase independently because, at the time of the visit, [Guess’] POS Device was not accessible to, and independently usable by blind people.”

Following an investigation, which was done on behalf of Santos, the California woman also alleges that the POS devices at other Guess stores “throughout the United States” also do not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

‘[Guess] does not provide any auxiliary aids or services calculated to make its POS Devices fully accessible to, and independently usable by, blind people,” Santos says in her class action lawsuit.

“Though [Guess] has centralized policies regarding the management and operation of its POS Devices, [Guess] has never had a plan or policy that is reasonably calculated to make its POS Devices fully accessible to, and independently usable by, blind people,” the Guess Americans With Disabilities Act class action lawsuit states.

“Plaintiff has actual knowledge of the fact that [Guess’] POS Devices lack the elements required to make them fully accessible to, and independently usable by, blind people,” it adds.

According to the class action lawsuit, “tactile keypads are required at every checkout location in California with a flat screen point of sale device. The keypads must be permanently attached.”

Santos is looking to represent a nationwide class of individuals who are legally blind and have tried or plan to try to make purchases at Guess stores with a debit card with the allegedly ADA non-compliant debit card machines.

The Guess class action lawsuit is charging the clothing retailer with violating Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act; California’s financial code, which requires businesses to include a touch screen accessible to blind people when a touch screen is employed; California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act; and California’s Disabled Persons Act.

Santos is asking the Guess be required to update its POS devices to bring them “into full compliance with the requirements set forth in the ADA.”

Santos is represented by Michael Todd Harrison of The Santa Clarita Firm.

Counsel information for Guess was not immediately available.

The Guess ADA Class Action Lawsuit is Santos v. Guess Inc., Case No. 2:15-cv-01612 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division.