Judge Orders ADA Parties to Wage ‘Good-Faith’ Settlement Talks

The Nov. 2 class action alleging that the website of online kitchenware store Food52.com is rife with barriers that make it inaccessible to people who are visually impaired or legally blind (see 2211100054) was assigned to U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams for the Southern District of New York, said her order Tuesday (docket 1:22-cv-09584). The parties within 30 days of service of the summons and complaint “must meet and confer for at least one hour in a good-faith attempt to settle this action,” said her order. If they fail to settle the case themselves, “they must also discuss whether further settlement discussions through the district’s court-annexed mediation program or before a magistrate judge would be productive at this time,” it said. She ordered the parties within 45 days to submit a joint letter requesting that the court either refer the case to mediation or a magistrate judge or schedule an initial status conference in the matter. Court records show the Food52.com class action alleging violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act was the 37th that plaintiff Ramon Fontanez filed through the same Manhattan law firm, Mizrahi Kroub, since mid-June, all in the Southern District of New York.