Wee-Ellis v. Rcp Meats, Inc.
| New York Eastern District Court | |
| Judge: | Nicholas G Garaufis |
| Referred: | James M Wicks |
| Case #: | 2:25-cv-01870 |
| Nature of Suit | 446 Civil Rights - Amer w/Disabilities - Other |
| Cause | 42:1201 Civil Rights (Disability) |
| Case Filed: | Apr 04, 2025 |
| Last checked: Friday Apr 04, 2025 1:07 PM EDT |
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Defendant
Rcp Meats, Inc.
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Plaintiff
Melchion Wee-Ellis
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Represented By
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| Docket last updated: 04/15/2025 11:59 PM EDT |
| Saturday, April 05, 2025 | ||
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order
Order to Show Cause
Sat 04/05 2:48 PM
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE. The Court has reviewed the Complaint (ECF No.1 ) and finds questions persist as to whether Plaintiff in fact has Article III standing. Plaintiff, a visually-impaired and blind individual, alleges that he was injured when he was unable to complete his purchase on Defendant's website because of its inaccessibility. The Second Circuit stated in Calcano v. Swarovski North America Ltd. , 36 F.4th 68, 71-72 (2d Cir. 2022), that an injury in fact for purposes of standing is established where "it [i]s reasonable to infer, based on the past frequency of plaintiff's visits and the proximity of defendants' businesses to plaintiff's home, that plaintiff intended to return to the subject location." Conclusory allegations are not enough. Id. at 72. In ADA cases strikingly similar to Plaintiff's, where a party is unable to use or navigate a website as a result of visual impairment, courts within the Second Circuit require a more detailed showing than what Plaintiff has alleged. Indeed, a plaintiff must demonstrate specific, prior attempts to obtain a product coupled with a specified interest in the particular item. See e.g., Davis v. Wild Friends Foods, Inc. , No. 22-cv-04244 (LJL), 2023 WL 4364465, at *6 (S.D.N.Y. July 5, 2023) (concluding the visually impaired plaintiff maintained standing as he visited the same website on five prior occasions to purchase one particular product and sufficiently alleged why he was interested in that specific product); Guerrero v. Ogawa USA Inc. , No. 22-cv-04178 (CM), 2022 WL 17156838, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. June 26, 2023) (noting the plaintiffs multiple previous visits to the website sufficed for standing purposes as the specific statements made in her amended complaint indicated that she wanted to purchase a unique, differentiated and highly valuable product and had tried to do so on three prior occasions); Tavarez v. Moo Organic Chocolates, LLC , 641 F. Supp. 3d 76, 82 (S.D.N.Y. 2022) (determining that statements of prior times that plaintiff accessed defendants website, the exact item he intended to purchase, and the attractive qualities of that specific product were sufficient to establish an intent to return to the website). Accordingly, Plaintiff is afforded the opportunity to file on ECF a letter brief addressing how the allegations of the Complaint establish an intent to return, specifically addressing the cases cited herein, and providing any other case law support on or before April 21, 2025 . So Ordered by Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks on 4/5/2025. (JDP) |
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| Friday, April 04, 2025 | ||
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service
Summons Issued
Fri 04/04 2:57 PM
Summons Issued as to Rcp Meats, Inc. (LJ) |
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misc
Clerks Notice of Rule 73
Fri 04/04 2:50 PM
Clerk's Notice Re: Consent. A United States Magistrate Judge has been assigned to this case and is available to conduct all proceedings. In accordance with Rule 73 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Local Rule 73.1, the parties are notified that if all parties consent, the assigned Magistrate Judge is available to conduct all proceedings in this action including a (jury or nonjury) trial and to order the entry of a final judgment. Attached to this Notice is a blank copy of the consent form that should be filled out, signed and filed electronically only if all parties wish to consent. Any party may withhold its consent without adverse substantive consequences. Do NOT return or file the consent unless all parties have signed the consent.The form may also be accessed at the following link:[LINK:https://img.nyed.uscourts.gov/files/forms/MJConsentForm.pdf] (LJ) |
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misc
Quality Control Check - Attorney Case Opening
Fri 04/04 2:42 PM
This attorney case opening filing has been checked for quality control. See the attachment for corrections that were made. (LJ) |
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30+
pgs
cmp
Complaint
Fri 04/04 12:23 PM
COMPLAINT MELCHION WEE-ELLIS against Rcp Meats, Inc. filing fee $ 405, receipt number ANYEDC-18922402 Was the Disclosure Statement on Civil Cover Sheet completed -NO,, filed by Melchion Wee-Ellis. (Cohen, Michael) |
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Att: 1
Civil Cover Sheet,
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Att: 2
Proposed Summons
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utility
Case Assigned/Reassigned
Fri 04/04 2:49 PM
Case Assigned to Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis and Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks. Please download and review the Individual Practices of the assigned Judges, located on our[LINK:website] . Attorneys are responsible for providing courtesy copies to judges where their Individual Practices require such. (LJ) |
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