In a significant legal development, a visually-impaired individual has filed a lawsuit against a California-based company for failing to make its website accessible to people with disabilities. Jesus Torres, the plaintiff, lodged the complaint in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco on February 24, 2025, targeting Bun Mee LLC. The lawsuit accuses Bun Mee LLC of violating both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act by not ensuring their website is accessible to blind or visually-impaired individuals.
Jesus Torres, who is legally blind and relies on screen-reading software (SRS) to navigate online content, claims that Bun Mee LLC's website is riddled with barriers that prevent full access. According to the complaint, these barriers include unlabeled graphics and buttons, insufficient navigational headings, inaccessible slideshows, and an ordering system that cannot be used with SRS. "Due to the widespread access barriers encountered on Defendant’s Website," Torres asserts he has been deterred from accessing the site and visiting Bun Mee's physical locations in San Francisco.
The complaint highlights specific legal violations under both federal and state laws. Under the ADA, it is considered discriminatory if public accommodations are not fully accessible to individuals with disabilities. The Unruh Civil Rights Act further mandates equal access for people with disabilities to all business establishments in California. The lawsuit alleges that Bun Mee LLC's failure to maintain an accessible website constitutes intentional discrimination against Torres and others similarly situated.
Torres seeks several forms of relief from the court. He requests a declaratory judgment affirming that Bun Mee LLC's current website operations discriminate against visually-impaired individuals. Additionally, he seeks preliminary and permanent injunctive relief requiring modifications to ensure accessibility compliance but limits this relief cost to $50,000 or less. Furthermore, Torres demands statutory damages amounting to at least $4,000 per violation as well as reasonable attorneys' fees and litigation costs.
Representing Jesus Torres is attorney Joseph R. Manning Jr., Esq., from Manning Law APC. The case has been assigned Case No.: CGC-25-622726 in the Superior Court of California for San Francisco County.