Lucky Brand Hit with Amended Class Action Lawsuit by Blind Customer

A Florida man who says he had to divulge his personal identification number to a clothing store staff member in order to complete a purchase has filed an amended class action lawsuit against Lucky Brand Stores Inc., just one day after a federal judge dismissed his original complaint.

The Lucky Brand ADA class action lawsuit joins a growing number of cases where a plaintiff alleges that a retail store is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act because consumers who are legally blind cannot complete purchases without telling a cashier their private information. The ADA class action lawsuits note that many other retail operations, as well as ATMs, use Braille characters to alleviate the problem.

However, Judge Ursula Ungaro had ruled April 21 that to have standing to continue proceedings, plaintiff David New would need to be able to demonstrate a “risk of future injury” which he did not by failing to “expressly identify a reasonably fixed period of time not too far off” when New would visit the Lucky Jeans store.

The amended Lucky Brand class action lawsuit goes a long way in addressing those concerns, noting that the closest retail location that allegedly should be compliant with the ADA is less than one-tenth of a mile from his home, and that he buys the majority of his jeans there so he would be visiting in the near future.

He also received the support from a U.S. Attorney in Florida, who filed a statement of interest negating many of the claims made by the Lucky Brand defense team. They wrote that “the requirement to provide auxiliary aids and services under Title III obligates Lucky Brand generally to provide customers who are blind a means by which they can independently and privately complete a debit card transaction.”

The Department of Justice also went on to note that while the defense had argued that New had other options with which to complete the purchase, “the ADA prohibits not only outright exclusion but also unnecessary differential treatment.”

There have been a growing number of these types of ADA class action lawsuits filed by blind and hard of seeing customers, including against Kay Jewelers, Hobby Lobby, Michael’s, and other retail operations. Some putative lead plaintiffs, like New, have run into problems with the injunctive relief component of standing, demonstrating that they would be shopping at the location in the future.

New is represented by class action lawsuit attorneys Andrew B. Boese, Derek Leon and Tiffany L. Anderson of Leon Cosgrove LLC.

The Lucky Brand ADA Class Action Lawsuit is David New v. Lucky Brand Dungarees Stores Inc., Case No. 14-cv-20574, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

UPDATE: The plaintiff voluntarily dropped the Lucky Brand ADA Class Action Lawsuit in early May 2014.