BALTIMORE — Three Maryland residents who are blind and the National Federation of the Blind are suing Walmart, alleging that the company violates the Americans with Disabilities Act because its self-checkout kiosks are not fully accessible to customers who are blind.

The lawsuit, filed late last week in U.S. District Court, also claims that an employee at the Walmart in Owings Mills allegedly attempted to take money from one of the plaintiffs while she was checking out at the store.

The suit claims that a staff member at the Owings Mills store on Reisterstown Road was assisting Cynthia Morales with a purchase at a self-checkout kiosk in July 2017 when the employee selected an option for cash back from her debit card and took $40 without her knowledge.

“It’s important for blind people to be able to use the machines independently … so that people are not stealing from us,” Morales, a Parkville resident, said in an interview. “We should be treated like everybody else — when we come into the store we would like to check out at the self-checkout quickly just like everybody else, and I know that the technology is out there.”

In addition to Morales, other plaintiffs include Linwood Boyd, a Pikesville resident who was shopping with Morales when the alleged incident occurred; Baltimore resident Melissa Sheeder; the National Federation of the Blind Inc. and the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland.

The plaintiffs are seeking a permanent injunction that would require Walmart to make its self-service kiosks throughout the U.S. accessible to customers who are blind; a declaration that Walmart has been violating the ADA; and court costs and attorneys’ fees.

According to the suit, Morales and Boyd were checking out at a self-service kiosk when Morales handed an employee her debit card and instructed the employee to enter her pin number on the keypad. She expected to pay about $80 for her items, according to the suit. During the transaction, the screen prompted the users to take money from the machine, the suit claims. When Morales and Boyd left the store, they asked a bystander to read the receipt and realized Morales was charged about $120.

They re-entered the store and called police, and the $40 was ultimately returned, according to the complaint.

“Money was stolen from one of our members and certainly we deplore that,” said Chris Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind.

Danielsen said that even without the incident at Owings Mills, it’s “unacceptable” that sight-impaired patrons can’t serve themselves. “The technology exists for Walmart and other entities that are using these kind of self-service kiosks,” he said.

Sheeder claims in the suit that she shops at Walmart at least once a week, and she and a friend attempted to use a self-checkout kiosk in July 2018. When they were unable to operate it, they were directed to a full-service checkout lane, where they had to wait in line.

“We don’t tolerate discrimination, and we believe our checkout procedures comply with applicable law,” Randy Hargrove, a spokesman for Walmart, said in an emailed statement. “When we learned of this specific situation with Ms. Morales, we looked into the matter and as a result, the associate is no longer with the company. We take this matter seriously and will respond as appropriate with the court.”

Danielsen said he’s not aware of any large retailers that incorporate self-checkout kiosks that are fully accessible to people who are blind, but he pointed to self-service software for machines such as ATMs, Amtrak ticket booths and taxicabs that allow people who are blind to operate the devices independently.

“We know that it’s possible to make a self-checkout kiosk accessible. It just has to be thought of at the design stage,” said Jessica P. Weber, an attorney who is part of a team from the Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein & Levy representing the plaintiffs. The lawsuit says the National Federation of the Blind attempted to work with Walmart to address problems with the kiosks prior to filing suit.

“The civil rights of blind people can’t wait indefinitely and so we’re going to forge ahead,” Weber said.

© 2018 The Baltimore Sun
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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