Plaintiff Drops Lucky Brand ADA Class Action Lawsuit

A class action lawsuit accusing Lucky Brand Dungarees Store Inc. of discriminating against blind customers has been dropped by the plaintiff. It was one of multiple class action lawsuits accusing retailers such as Guess, Anthropologie, and Lululemon of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by not providing point-of-sale devices that allow blind customers to enter their credit card PIN independently.

Lead plaintiff David New of Florida alleged in the Lucky Brand class action lawsuit that he was forced to disclose his personal identification number for a debit card transaction at a Lucky Brand store near his residence. The Lucky Brand class action lawsuit alleged that other point-of-sale systems and ATMs address this issue by providing key pads with Braille characters textured on each number, while the keypad at the Lucky Brand store uses a touchscreen.

In April, New filed an amended complaint in response to U.S. District Court Judge Ursula Ungaro’s order to identify when New would visit a Lucky Brand store again. The amended class action lawsuit noted that the closest retail location that New alleged should be compliant with the ADA is less than a mile from his home, and also that he purchases the majority of his jeans at that location and would likely be visiting in the near future.

Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Florida filed a statement of interest negating many of the claims made by the Lucky Brand defense team and supporting New’s class action lawsuit. The statement of interest indicated “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 U.S. Attorney’s Office’s statement also addressed Lucky Brand’s argument that New had other options with which to complete the purchase, saying “the ADA prohibits not only outright exclusion but also unnecessary differential treatment.”

However, earlier this month, New decided to voluntarily dismiss his ADA class action lawsuit against Lucky Brand. New’s attorney has not commented on the reason for the withdrawal.

New has also filed ADA class action lawsuits against Guess, Anthropologie, Lululemon, and other retailers, alleging they are forcing blind customers to divulge their PINs when making debit card purchases, when the companies could use point of sale devices with textured keys that would allow blind customers to complete debit purchases independently.

These types of Americans with Disabilities Act class action lawsuits filed by blind and visually impaired customers have been growing. They include ADA class action lawsuits filed against Kay Jewelers, Hobby Lobby, Express, J.Crew and Kroger, among other retailers. Other plaintiffs, like David New, have struggled to demonstrate they would shop at allegedly noncompliant store locations in the future, a component necessary to establish for a claim for injunctive relief.

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 was 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.