Popular fast-fashion retailer Fashion Nova agreed to a $5.15 million web accessibility settlement in Alcazar v. Fashion Nova, underscoring the steep cost of dragging out an accessibility lawsuit. Most cases settle for under $10,000—so what went wrong here, and what can companies learn?
In case you missed it last week, popular fast-fashion retailer Fashion Nova agreed to pay $5.15 million to settle a web accessibility lawsuit brought by serial plaintiff Juan Alcazar. The class action settlement establishes two plaintiff classes: (1) a nationwide class of blind individuals for injunctive relief, and (2) a California subclass for statutory damages who can claim a cash payment up to $4,000 each, reflecting the Unruh Act’s statutory damages. Fashion Nova also agreed to improve the accessibility of its website. This makes sense as I’ve consistently maintained that the biggest threat to online companies is getting sued under California’s Unruh Act.
As mentioned, most web accessibility cases settle for less than $10,000 (slightly higher in California). Let’s examine what made this case different and what lessons companies can take from this litigation.
Why You Must Settle Web Accessibility Lawsuits Quickly
A quick review of Pacer for Alcazar v. Fashion Nova, Inc., Case No. 20-CV-01434 (N.D. Cal.) reveals that the biggest mistake was that the defendants dragged out the litigation.
The Cost of Delay: 205 Filings Over Five Years
Since being filed in February 2020, the litigation has dragged on for five years! It was also highly active, as Pacer reveals a total of 205 filings!
Mediation Missteps & Discovery Disputes
As part of the litigation, the parties tried (and failed) at mediation and bickered over discovery—all things that typically occur in litigation. The clearest signal, however, that Fashion Nova had extended this litigation much too far was in September 2022 when the court certified the plaintiff’s class. In a nutshell, this meant that now Fashion Nova was facing potentially thousands of unknown plaintiffs, and each of them would be entitled to $4,000 under Unruh! Nonetheless, as the stakes started to mount, Fashion Nova’s attorneys repeatedly changed, probably as each realized they were getting in well over their heads.
It's pointless to draw out web accessibility litigation as a defendant. If you don’t settle quickly, you will always pay more.
When to Fold: Motion to Dismiss vs. Settlement
At the very most, you might try to get the case kicked out on a motion to dismiss—but if you lose that motion, expect to pay a lot more to settle (e.g., $30,000 to $50,000). Swallow your pride, take the deal, and fix your website. But never continue litigating the case.
Impact of Class Certification in Web Accessibility Lawsuits
This case illustrates the pivotal role of class certification in ADA/Unruh Act litigation.
Why Class Certification Is a Game-Changer
By achieving class certification, the plaintiff gained enormous leverage. Every California class member potentially became entitled to statutory damages of $4,000 under the Unruh Act for encountering Fashion Nova’s inaccessible website.
Unruh Act’s $4,000-per-Claim Exposure
Multiplying $4,000 by potentially hundreds or thousands of class members created a theoretical exposure well beyond the $5 million that Fashion Nova ended up paying. Frankly, at that point, Fashion Nova ended up with a bargain. In the unlikely event that there are any funds left over, any remaining funds will go to the American Foundation for the Blind.
Understanding Attorneys’ Fees in Web Accessibility Litigation
A striking aspect of the settlement is how much of the $5.15 million will go toward the plaintiffs’ attorneys and litigation expenses.
Breakdown of the $2.52M in Legal Costs
The settlement allocates up to $1,287,500 (25%) for class counsel’s fees, and another $1,235,259 for reimbursement of out-of-pocket costs.
What Class Members Actually Receive
In total, approximately half of the settlement fund (roughly $2.52 million) is earmarked for the lawyers who litigated the case, leaving only $2.7 million for the class members. These are exorbitant fees and costs, but this is exactly how serial plaintiffs make their money when forced to litigate cases.
Web Accessibility Settlements: Fashion Nova vs. Target Comparison
Target’s $6M Accessibility Settlement
To the best of our knowledge, the Fashion Nova $5.15M settlement is the second largest publicly known web accessibility settlement, only behind the pioneering National Federation of the Blind (NFB) v. Target Corp. class settlement from 2008. In that case, Target agreed to establish a $6 million fund for blind customers (focused on California class members) and to make its website accessible, including monitoring and training by the NFB. Target settlement also paid $3.7 million in attorneys’ fees to plaintiffs’ counsel and, importantly, contained no reversion of funds to the defendant. Fashion Nova’s settlement, while smaller in overall dollar amount and excluding reversion of funds to the defendant, excludes the agreement to provisions for NFB monitoring.
Key Differences: Monitoring, Reversion & Counsel Incentives
This makes sense because a serial plaintiff attorney filed the Fashion Nova litigation and had little incentive to resolve the underlying discrimination.
Legal Disclaimer: Educational Purposes Only
Nothing in this post should be interpreted as legal advice or as forming an attorney-client relationship. It is offered for educational purposes only. You should always contact a qualified attorney in your area to discuss your legal rights and responsibilities.
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