UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

MIAMI DIVISION

 CASE NO.:

HOWARD COHAN,

Plaintiff,

vs. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF SOUGHT

WILLIAMS-SONOMA STORES, INC.

a Foreign Profit Corporation

d/b/a WEST ELM,

Defendant(s).

____________________________________/

COMPLAINT

Plaintiff, HOWARD COHAN (“Plaintiff”), by and through the undersigned counsel, 

hereby files this Complaint and sues WILLIAMS-SONOMA STORES, INC., a Foreign Profit 

Corporation, d/b/a WEST ELM (“Defendant”), for declaratory and injunctive relief, attorneys’

fees, expenses and costs (including, but not limited to, court costs and expert fees) pursuant to 42 

U.S.C. § 12182 et. seq., and the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and alleges as

follows:

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

1. This Court is vested with original jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 

§§ 1331, 343 for Plaintiff’s claims arising under Title 42 U.S.C. § 12182 et. seq., based on 

Defendant’s violations of Title III of the ADA. See also, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201, 2202, as well as the

2010 ADA Standards.

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2. Venue is proper in this Court, Miami Division, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(B) 

and Internal Operating Procedures for the United States District Court For the Southern District of 

Florida in that all events giving rise to the lawsuit occurred in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

PARTIES

3. Plaintiff, HOWARD COHAN is sui juris and is a resident of the State of Florida 

residing in Palm Beach County, Florida.

4. Upon information and belief, Defendant is the lessee, operator, owner and lessor of 

the Real Property, which is subject to this suit, and is located at 3201 North Miami Avenue, Unit 

108, Miami, Florida, 33127, (“Premises”), and is the owner of the improvements where Premises 

is located.

5. Defendant is authorized to conduct, and is in fact conducting, business within the 

state of Florida.

6. Plaintiff is an individual with numerous permanent disabilities including severe 

spinal stenosis of the lumbar spine with spondylolisthesis; severe spinal stenosis of the cervical 

spine with nerve root compromise on the right side; a non-union fracture of the left acromion 

(shoulder); a labral tear of the left shoulder; a full thickness tear of the right rotator cuff; a right 

knee medial meniscal tear; a repaired ACL and bilateral meniscal tear of the left knee; and severe 

basal joint arthritis of the left thumb. The above listed permanent disabilities and symptoms cause 

sudden onsets of severe pain and substantially limit Plaintiff’s major life activities. As a result of 

these medical conditions, Plaintiff suffers body weakness, mobility limitations, abnormal gate, and 

abnormal balance. Additionally, his ability to lift, reach, bend, stretch and twist are substantially 

restricted.

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7. At the time of Plaintiff’s visit to the Premises on August 4, 2021, (and prior to 

instituting this action), Plaintiff suffered from a “qualified disability” under the ADA, and required 

the use of fully accessible restrooms. Plaintiff personally visited the Premises, but was denied full 

and equal access and full and equal enjoyment of the facilities and amenities within the Premises, 

even though he would be classified as a “bona fide patron”.

8. Plaintiff, in his individual capacity, will absolutely return to the Premises and avail 

himself of the services offered when Defendant modifies the Premises or modifies the policies and 

practices to accommodate individuals who have physical disabilities.

9. Plaintiff is continuously aware of the violations at Defendant’s Premises and is 

aware that it would be a futile gesture to return to the Premises as long as those violations exist, 

and Plaintiff is not willing to suffer additional discrimination.

10. Plaintiff has suffered, and will continue to suffer, direct and indirect injury as a 

result of Defendant’s discrimination until Defendant is compelled to comply with the requirements 

of the ADA. Plaintiff’s abnormal medical conditions and resulting disabilities as listed in the 

Counts below of this Complaint required the use of fully accessible restrooms, and otherwise 

affects Plaintiff’s ability to enjoy places of public accommodation such as the Premises as further 

detailed throughout this Complaint.

11. Plaintiff would like to be able to be a patron of the Premises in the future and be 

able to enjoy the goods and services that are available to the able-bodied public, but is currently 

precluded from doing so as a result of Defendant’s discriminatory conduct as described herein. 

Plaintiff will continue to be precluded from using the Premises until corrective measures are taken 

at the Premises to eliminate the discrimination against persons with physical disabilities.

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12. Plaintiff frequently travels to the Miami/Dade County area. During these trips he 

visits restaurants, bars, shops, hotels, gas stations, entertainment venues, and any other places of 

public accommodation in the area. In this area, Plaintiff has numerous friends, family members, 

as well as he is a season ticket holder of sporting events in the Miami area.

13. Plaintiff intends return to the area where the Premises is located, as he has on 

countless occasions previously, and as he will on countless occasions in the future. 

14. Completely independent of the personal desire to have access to this place of public 

accommodation free of illegal barriers to access, Plaintiff also acts as a “tester” for the purpose of 

discovering, encountering and engaging discrimination against the disabled in public 

accommodations. When acting as a “tester”, Plaintiff employs a routine practice which was 

employed in this matter. Plaintiff personally visits the public accommodation, as Plaintiff did here 

and engages all of the barriers to access, or at least of those that Plaintiff is able to access. Plaintiff 

tests all of those barriers to access to determine whether and the extent to which they are illegal 

barriers to access. Plaintiff then proceeds with legal action to enjoin such discrimination. Upon 

resolution of the action and an agreement by the Defendant to fix the barriers to access, Plaintiff 

will subsequently return to the premises to verify its compliance or non-compliance with the ADA 

and to otherwise use the public accommodation as members of the able-bodied community are 

able to do. If the premises is not in compliance upon his return, Plaintiff has repeatedly brought 

breach of contract actions against the Defendant for their failures to fix the barriers to access. In 

some instances, Plaintiff has even filed four and five separate actions against the same premises 

so as to ensure that they finally comply with the ADA. 

15. Plaintiff fully intends and will return to this Premises in this tester capacity and will 

pursue his routine practice of ensuring compliance. Independent of his personal reasons for

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subsequent visits to this Premises as outlined above, Plaintiff intends to visit the Premises regularly 

to verify its compliance or non-compliance with the ADA, and its maintenance of the accessible 

features of Premises. 

16. In this instance, Plaintiff, in Plaintiff’s individual capacity and as a “tester”, visited 

Premises, encountered barriers to access at Premises, and engaged and tested those barriers, 

suffered legal harm and legal injury, and will continue to suffer such harm and injury as a result 

of the illegal barriers to access and the ADA violations set forth herein. It is Plaintiff’s belief that 

said violations will not be corrected without Court intervention, and thus Plaintiff will suffer legal 

harm and injury in the near future.

17. Plaintiff, in his capacity as a tester, will absolutely return to the Premises when 

either Defendant enters into an agreement to modify the Premises and/or an agreement to modify

the policies and practices to accommodate individuals who have physical disabilities or otherwise 

advises Plaintiff that the barriers to access and discriminatory policies have been removed. The 

purpose of said visit will be to confirm said modifications and policy changes have been completed 

in accordance with the requirements of the ADA.

VIOLATIONS OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

18. Plaintiff adopts and re-alleges the allegations stated in paragraphs 1 through 17

above as if fully stated herein.

19. On July 26, 1990, Congress enacted the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 

42 U.S.C. § 12101 et. seq. Commercial enterprises were provided one and a half (1.5) years from 

enactment of the statute to implement its requirements. The effective date of Title III of the ADA 

was January 26, 1992, or January 26, 1993 if Defendant(s) have ten (10) or fewer employees and 

gross receipts of $500,000.00 or less. See 42 U.S.C. § 12182; 28 C.F.R. § 36.508(a).

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20. Congress found, among other things, that:

a. some 43,000,000 Americans have one or more physical or mental disabilities, and 

this number shall increase as the population continues to grow older;

b. historically, society has tended to isolate and segregate individuals with disabilities 

and, despite some improvements, such forms of discrimination against disabled 

individuals continue to be a pervasive social problem, requiring serious attention;

c. discrimination against disabled individuals persists in such critical areas as 

employment, housing, public accommodations, transportation, communication, 

recreation, institutionalization, health services, voting and access to public services 

and public facilities;

d. individuals with disabilities continually suffer forms of discrimination, including 

outright intentional exclusion, the discriminatory effects of architectural, 

transportation, and communication barriers, failure to make modifications to 

existing facilities and practices. Exclusionary qualification standards and criteria, 

segregation, and regulation to lesser services, programs, benefits, or other 

opportunities; and,

e. the continuing existence of unfair and unnecessary discrimination and prejudice 

denies people with disabilities the opportunity to compete on an equal basis and to 

pursue those opportunities for which our country is justifiably famous, and accosts 

the United States billions of dollars in unnecessary expenses resulting from 

dependency and non-productivity.

42 U.S.C. § 12101(a)(1)-(3),(5) and (9).

21. Congress explicitly stated that the purpose of the ADA was to:

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a. provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for elimination of 

discrimination against individuals with disabilities;

b. provide clear, strong, consistent, enforceable standards addressing discrimination 

against individuals with disabilities; and

c. invoke the sweep of congressional authority, including the power to enforce the 

fourteenth amendment and to regulate commerce, in order to address the major 

areas of discrimination faced on a daily basis by people with disabilities.

U.S.C. § 12101(b)(1)(2) and (4).

22. Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 12182(7), 28 C.F.R. § 36.104 and the 2010 ADA Standards, 

Defendant’s Premises is a place of public accommodation covered by the ADA by the fact it

provides services to the general public and must be in compliance therewith. 

23. Defendant has discriminated and continues to discriminate against Plaintiff and 

others who are similarly situated, by denying access to, and full and equal enjoyment of goods, 

services, facilities, privileges, advantages and/or accommodations located at the Premises, as 

prohibited by 42 U.S.C. § 12182 and 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et. seq., and by failing to remove 

architectural barriers pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 12182(b)(2)(A)(iv).

24. Plaintiff has visited Premises, and has been denied full and safe equal access to the 

facilities and therefore suffered an injury in fact.

25. Plaintiff would like to return and enjoy the goods and/or services at Premises on a 

spontaneous, full and equal basis. However, Plaintiff is precluded from doing so by the 

Defendant’s failure and refusal to provide disabled persons with full and equal access to their 

facilities. Therefore, Plaintiff continues to suffer from discrimination and injury due to the 

architectural barriers that are in violation of the ADA.

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26. Pursuant to the mandates of 42 U.S.C. § 12134(a), on July 26, 1991, the Department 

of Justice, Officer of the Attorney General promulgated Federal Regulations to implement the 

requirements of the ADA. See 28 C.F.R. § 36 and its successor the 2010 ADA Standards ADA 

Accessibility guidelines (hereinafter referred to as “ADAAG”), 28 C.F.R. § 36, under which said 

Department may obtain civil penalties of up to $55,000.00 for the first violation and $110,000.00 

for and subsequent violation.

27. Based on a preliminary inspection of the Premises, Defendant is in violation of 42 

U.S.C. § 12182 et. seq. and the 2010 American Disabilities Act Standards et. seq., and is 

discriminating against Plaintiff as a result of, inter alia, the following specific violations:

Unisex Restroom

a. Providing a gate or door with a continuous opening pressure of greater than 5 lbs. 

exceeding the limits for a person with a disability in violation of 2010 ADAAG §§ 

404, 404.1, 404.2, 404.2.9 and 309.4.

b. Providing a swinging door or gate with improper maneuvering clearance(s) due to 

a wall or some other obstruction in violation of 2010 ADAAG §§ 404, 404.1, 404.2, 

404.2.4 and 404.2.4.1. (trash)

c. Failure to provide the correct height for a table surface or for a baby changing table, 

in violation of 2010 ADAAG §§902, 902.1, 902.2, 902.3, and/or §4.32.4 of the 

1991 ADA Standards.

d. Failure to provide a coat hook within the proper reach ranges for a person with a 

disability in violation of 2010 ADAAG §§ 603, 603.4 and 308.

e. Failure to provide shelves at the proper height above the finished floor (min 40 –

max 48 inches) in violation of 2010 ADAAG §§ 603 and 603.4.

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f. Providing grab bars of improper horizontal length or spacing as required along the 

rear wall in violation of 2010 ADAAG §§ 604, 604.5, 604.5.1 and 604.5.2.

g. Failure to provide the proper insulation or protection for plumbing or other sharp 

or abrasive objects under a sink or countertop in violation of 2010 ADAAG §§ 606 

and 606.5.

h. Failure to provide mirror(s) located above lavatories or countertops at the proper 

height above the finished floor in violation of 2010 ADAAG §§ 603 and 603.3.

i. Failure to provide the water closet seat at the correct height above the finished floor 

in violation of 2010 ADAAG §§ 604 and 604.4.

j. Failure to provide toilet paper dispensers in the proper position in front of the water 

closet or at the correct height above the finished floor in violation of 2010 ADAAG 

§§ 604, 604.7 and 309.4.

28. To the best of Plaintiff’s belief and knowledge, Defendant has failed to eliminate 

the specific violations set forth in paragraph 27 herein.

29. Although Defendant is charged with having knowledge of the violations, Defendant

may not have actual knowledge of said violations until this Complaint makes Defendant aware of 

same.

30. To date, the readily achievable barriers and other violations of the ADA still exist 

and have not been remedied or altered in such a way as to effectuate compliance with the 

provisions of the ADA.

31. As the owner, lessor, lessee or operator of the Premises, Defendant is required to 

comply with the ADA. To the extent the Premises, or portions thereof, existed and were occupied 

prior to January 26, 1992, the owner, lessor, lessee or operator has been under a continuing 

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obligation to remove architectural barriers at the Premises where removal was readily achievable, 

as required by 28 C.F.R. §36.402. 

32. To the extent the Premises, or portions thereof, were constructed for occupancy 

after January 26, 1993 the owner, lessor, lessee or operator of the Premises was under an obligation 

to design and construct such Premises such that it is readily accessible to and usable by individuals 

with disabilities, as required by 28 C.F.R. §36.401.

33. Plaintiff has retained the undersigned counsel for the filing and prosecution of this 

action. Plaintiff is entitled to have his reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses paid by 

Defendant, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 12205.

34. All of the above violations are readily achievable to modify in order to bring 

Premises or the Facility/Property into compliance with the ADA.

35. In instance(s) where the 2010 ADAAG standard does not apply, the 1991 ADAAG 

standard applies and all of the violations listed in paragraph 27 herein can be applied to the 1991 

ADAAG standards.

36. Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 12188, this Court is vested with the authority to grant 

Plaintiff’s injunctive relief, including an order to alter the subject facility to make them readily 

accessible to and useable by individuals with disabilities to the extent required by the ADA and 

closing the Subject Facility until the requisite modifications are completed.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against Defendant and requests the following 

injunctive and declaratory relief:

1. That this Court declares that Premises owned, operated and/or controlled by 

Defendant is in violation of the ADA;

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2. That this Court enter an Order requiring Defendant to alter their facilities to make 

them accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities to the full extent 

required by Title III of the ADA;

3. That this Court enter an Order directing the Defendant to evaluate and neutralize 

their policies, practices and procedures toward persons with disabilities, for such 

reasonable time so as to allow the Defendant to undertake and complete corrective 

procedures to Premises;

4. That this Court award reasonable attorney’s fees, all costs (including, but not 

limited to the court costs and expert fees) and other expenses of suit to the Plaintiff; 

and,

5. That this Court award such other and further relief as it may deem necessary, just 

and proper.

Dated November 4, 2022.

Sconzo Law Office, P.A.

3825 PGA Boulevard, Suite 207

Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410

Telephone: (561) 729-0940

Facsimile: (561) 491-9459

By: /s/ Gregory S. Sconzo 

GREGORY S. SCONZO, ESQUIRE

Florida Bar No.: 0105553

SAMANTHA L. SIMPSON, ESQ.

Florida Bar No.: 1010423

Primary Email: greg@sconzolawoffice.com

Primary Email: samantha@sconzolawoffice.com 

Secondary Email: alexa@sconzolawoffice.com 

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