If you, at any time from December 21, 2006, through September 15, 2011, were mobility impaired, used, use or will use wheelchairs or other devices for mobility, and you patronized any Whole Foods Store in California or allege you would have patronized at one or more Whole Foods Store in California but for allegedly being denied on the basis of disability the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of such Whole Foods Store(s), your rights may be affected by a class action settlement.
A class action settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit against Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Food Markets, Inc. and Whole Foods Market California, Inc. (“Whole Foods” or “Defendants”) pending in the California Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles (styled Kirby Velasco v. Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Food Markets, Inc. and Whole Foods Market California, Inc.,Class Action Case No. BC428347) alleging, among other things, that Whole Foods stores owned and/or operated by Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Foods Market, Inc., and Whole Foods Market California, Inc. in California have physical barriers and other conditions that deny full and equal access to persons with mobility disabilities and asserting the following alleged causes of action: (1) violation of the Disabled Persons Act, (2) violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Acts, (3) violation of Civil Code section 55.1 and (4) violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the Whole Foods Store Disability Access Class Action Settlement notice.
In general, the Whole Foods Store Disability Access Settlement provides that Whole Foods will retain a California Certified Access Specialist to inspect each of its California stores and within 30 months will correct those physical conditions identified to be in need of correction. The Settlement agreement also provides a Damages Fund of $500,000.00 as a monetary payment to the Class for damages. The maximum amount each eligible Claimant can receive is $4,000. However, an eligible Claimant will receive less than $4,000 if there are more than 125 eligible Claimants.
The Whole Foods Store Disability Settlement Class reportedly includes all persons who at any time from December 21, 2006, through September 15, 2011, were mobility impaired, used, use or will use wheelchairs or other devices for mobility, and who patronized any Whole Foods Store or who allege they would have patronized at one or more Whole Foods Store but for allegedly being denied on the basis of disability the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of such Whole Foods Store(s). (“Settlement Class”)
A Final Approval Hearing (the “Settlement Hearing”) will be held before the Honorable Elihu M. Berle in Department 323 of the Court at 600 S. Commonwealth Avenue, Los Angeles, California on January 18, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. to consider whether the Whole Foods Store Disability Settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate to the members of the Class and whether Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fee request and reimbursement of costs request should be approved.
For more information on the Whole Foods Store Disability Access
class action settlement, visit the Kirby Velasco v. Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Food Markets Settlement website:
www.cawholefoodsaccesssettlement.com
If You Have Thoughts On The Whole Foods Store Disability Access Class Action Lawsuit Settlement, Share Your Class Action Settlement Comments Below.
On November 26, 2007, while on crutches, I slipped and fell hard on wet concrete on Whole Foods walkway in Washington, D. C. , as a result of Whole Foods having negligently failed to clean up the mess. This resulted in an injury at the right sacroiliac joint and massive medical bills. A law suit was filed. The first thing that Whole Foods did was to file a third party complaint against a poor Ethiopian man who hardly speaks any English changing the spot where the accident occurred and falsely accusing this innocent person. When Whole Foods sent their massive interrogatories, my then attorney asked me to fill them out and then we would finalize them. He took my answers with him, and much to my dismay when I saw the finalized version, he had altered and falsified my answers to make it look as though the Ethiopian man was responsible and obviously my attorney was colluding with Whole Foods. In the event that you would like to hear more about this ongoing bizarre saga, call me at (301) 961-0260.
I have been a customer of Whole Foods for 6 years. I use a wheelchair and my attorney sent notice of ADA inaccessibility problems. I have never seen Whole Foods post notice in order to file a claim. I have never seen anything in the news until I googled whole foods ada so I could file a suit during 2010. I still have access problems there. Today’s date 8/14/2013
The check out isles say that they are all accessible, however it’s impossible to reach the second register on express, and other isles are way too narrow to go though with a wheelchair if anyone else is in line. It’s insulting that they put a sign up that says “a’ll registers are accessible” downrigt lie. Plus the parking area at Berkeley is often used for loading trucks and is blocked. The security guard was very nasty to me and management ignored me when I complained. They acted like it didn’t matter that disabled people could park, and it “was not their job… the police enforce ADA parking, not us”