The Tactical Ops Brewery in Clovis is planning to head toward a trail over an ADA lawsuit related to the accessibility of the brewery’s website. Photo by Josh Olalde on unsplash.com

A legal complaint against a Clovis brewery claiming its website is inaccessible to the blind is what one attorney calls the next iteration of lawsuits taking advantage of the Americans with Disabilities Act — and breweries appear to be in the crosshairs.

The trial between San Bernadino resident and plaintiff Luis Licea against Tactical Ops Brewery in Clovis found its presiding judge this week with a trial scheduled for August 2024.

Being blind, Licea requires screen reading software to access websites, according to the complaint filed with the Fresno Superior Court.

The Clovis brewers’ website contains “access barriers” that make it incompatible with software that makes online browsing possible for the blind, according to the complaint.

Requests for comment from Licea’s attorneys, Scott Ferrell and Victoria Knowles of Pacific Trial Attorneys in Newport Beach, were not answered by press time.

According to the complaint, factors such as alternative text and missing form labels that provide descriptions for the visually impaired were not on the website.

While the complaint said that Lucia “genuinely wants to avail himself of Defendant’s goods and services,” the complaint also describes Lucia as “tester,” or one who checks public places for ADA compliance.

The first notice owners of Tactical Ops got about their website was in the form of a “demand letter” from Pacific Trial Attorneys, according to attorney Justin Campagne of Fresno-based Campagne & Campagne who is representing Tactical Ops.

The letter states that even if owners were to fix their website, their client “remains entitled to statutory damages.” Attorneys are seeking $19,500 in damages.

If these suits get traction, Campagne said he could see other firms doing this. Unlike more notorious ADA lawsuits where plaintiffs must physically go to establishments to prove that businesses are out of compliance, one only has to have internet access.

The ADA establishes construction standards business owners can look to for compliance.

But there is no federal or state law outlining what specific features a website must have.

An organization known as the World Wide Web Consortium has published what it calls the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which states what they believe should be standards for accessibility. They include adding alternative text to graphics, enabling a keyboard can replace a mouse in certain instances, making sure image maps are accessible and adding headings so blind people can easily navigate websites.

“Without these very basic components, a website will be inaccessible to a blind or visually-impaired person using a screen reader,” the complaint states.

The Tactical Ops website is powered by Squarespace, a New York City-based website builder and hosting company.

Campagne said $19,500 being sought in damages is below the threshold to qualify for federal courts. Federal courts have been hostile toward these kinds of suits, he said. A unanimous jury decision is required for a plaintiff to win at the federal level, as opposed to three quarters at the state level.

This is not the only lawsuit by Pacific Trial Attorneys and Licea.

An article published on the website Mondaq.com said the law firm has been pursuing claims against craft breweries throughout California.

About a year ago, a Fresno brewery received a similar letter from Pacific Trial Attorneys about their website. The owner, who declined to be named, said he took down his website and heard nothing further about the matter.

A search for Licea returned with lawsuits against the Bank of Hope’s website as well as Rugs.com and Mercury Insurance.

For Tactical Ops, the letter means either paying the settlement fee or hiring an attorney and fighting the claims in court. But the fight is expensive and slow.

The model in previous ADA lawsuits was not to target large corporations but rather small business owners.

“You don’t go against the Walmarts, you go against the small, family-owned businesses that can’t afford a long, protracted fight,” Campagne said.

Campagne hopes some case law comes down by the time the case goes to trial. The only standards are outlined by the World Wide Web Consortium.

“This is kind of the Wild West, I don’t have a lot of appellate court decisions on their tactics. They’re trying to impose these private group recommendations on websites,” Campagne said.

Most of the litigation has been out of the Los Angeles area. With more businesses deciding to go to court such as Tactical Ops, more guidance can come down and standards can become clearer, Campagne said.