A deaf man in New York is suing several pornography websites, alleging they are in violation of federal law for their lack of closed captioning.
Yaroslav Suris argued in a lawsuit filed this week that Pornhub, YouPorn, and RedTube violated the Americans with Disabilities Act because deaf and hard-of-hearing people don’t have the same access to the pornography websites as those who aren’t impaired.
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in areas of “employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government’ programs and services,” according to the Department of Labor.
Suris tried to watch at least seven videos in October and January, but their lack of closed captioning denied him enjoyment.
“Without closed captioning, deaf and hard-of-hearing people cannot enjoy video content on the defendants’ websites while the general public can,” the class action complaint said.
Pornhub’s vice president, Corey Price, told TMZ Thursday that its website does have a closed captions category.
“We understand that Yaroslav Suris is suing Pornhub for claiming we’ve denied the deaf and hearing impaired access to our videos. While we do not generally comment on active lawsuits, we’d like to take this opportunity to point out that we do have a closed captions category.”
Suris is seeking compensatory damages, civil penalties, attorneys fees, and fines.
