Fast casual restaurant chain Sweetgreen is facing a class action lawsuit from blind customers and a Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs (WLC). The lawsuit alleges the company failed to make its online ordering platform accessible to blind customers, thereby violating the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).
The lawsuit alleges that blind customers had repeatedly lodged formal complaints to Sweetgreen over the past year about the lack of accessibility of its online web ordering system and mobile app—but that Sweetgreen failed to make its online ordering system accessible. ADA and state laws require public restaurants and other public entities to maintain a web site accessible to blind customers.
To access the internet, blind individuals use screen reader software that either displays Braille on hardware devices or vocalizes text-to-speech. If a webpage is not compatible with screen reader software, blind internet users are effectively locked out. …show more content…
All too often, blind Americans are denied equal treatment and access to everyday services in violation of federal and state law.
“When a business like Sweetgreen ignores the complaints of customers who have disabilities,” Handley continued, “it leaves the customers with no choice but to ask the federal courts to enforce the law. Our clients are paying customers and cannot be denied equal access to everyday services—by Sweetgreen or by any other place of public accommodation.”
Sweetgreen has reportedly said that it aligns its business practices with the socially-conscious values of its founders. Sweetgreen currently operates 40 stores in the D.C. area, New York, and five other U.S.
The lawsuit alleges that blind customers had repeatedly lodged formal complaints to Sweetgreen over the past year about the lack of accessibility of its online web ordering system and mobile app—but that Sweetgreen failed to make its online ordering system accessible. ADA and state laws require public restaurants and other public entities to maintain a web site accessible to blind customers.
To access the internet, blind individuals use screen reader software that either displays Braille on hardware devices or vocalizes text-to-speech. If a webpage is not compatible with screen reader software, blind internet users are effectively locked out. …show more content…
All too often, blind Americans are denied equal treatment and access to everyday services in violation of federal and state law.
“When a business like Sweetgreen ignores the complaints of customers who have disabilities,” Handley continued, “it leaves the customers with no choice but to ask the federal courts to enforce the law. Our clients are paying customers and cannot be denied equal access to everyday services—by Sweetgreen or by any other place of public accommodation.”
Sweetgreen has reportedly said that it aligns its business practices with the socially-conscious values of its founders. Sweetgreen currently operates 40 stores in the D.C. area, New York, and five other U.S.