Disability Rights Group Sues Robinsons-May Store Chain
A Bay Area advocacy group filed a federal lawsuit charging the Robinsons-May department-store chain with violating the Americans With Disabilities Act, citing aisles too narrow and counters too tall for wheelchairs, among other things.
The suit, filed by Disability Rights Advocates, comes seven months after the group won a judgment against Macy’s West, owned by Federated Department Stores Inc., forcing the company to make a variety of changes at its flagship San Francisco store.
The suit filed Friday charges Robinsons-May with “systemic civil rights violations,” including arranging merchandise racks in ways that make them inaccessible to people in wheelchairs.
The stores also are designed with sales counters that are too high for wheelchair users, as well as inaccessible restrooms, fitting rooms and customer services, the group said in a complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles.
A spokeswoman for St. Louis-based May Department Stores Co., owner of Robinsons-May, said the company does not comment on pending litigation.
“Robinsons-May is committed to complying with the Americans With Disabilities Act and to providing every customer with full access to all the merchandises and services we offer,” said May Co. spokeswoman Rhonda K. West.
Catherine Shimozono, whose name titles the suit (Shimozono et al. vs. Robinsons-May Stores), alleged in the complaint that main aisles of the Robinsons-May store in the Lakewood Mall often are blocked to wheelchair users by tables of merchandise. Shimozono said she complained to store officials about the situation six times but never received a response.
Another plaintiff, Joel Ring, complained about the men’s fashions department of the Beverly Hills store. In one instance, Ring’s wheelchair caught and knocked over a display stand, which just missed toppling onto him, he said in the suit.
In the Macy’s case, a federal judge ruled in October that the chain’s San Francisco store violated state and federal laws. The court ordered Macy’s to widen its entrances, aisles, cash register stations, dressing rooms and other narrow passages.
