DOJ Statement of Interest in Alcazar v. Fashion Nova - Federal Government Opposes Class Settlement

On February 2, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest in Alcazar v. Fashion Nova, Inc. (N.D. Cal.), opposing the proposed class action settlement that had been pending before the court. A final approval hearing was held on February 12, 2026. The underlying case alleged that Fashion Nova, a California-based apparel retailer, operated an online store that was not accessible to blind shoppers using screen-reading software, in violation of Title III of the ADA and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act. Under the proposed settlement, Fashion Nova agreed to pay approximately $2.43 million to California class members (capped at $4,000 per household) and roughly $2.52 million in attorneys' fees and costs to plaintiffs' counsel, plus a commitment to modify its website "as needed" to substantially conform to WCAG 2.1. The DOJ argued the settlement should be rejected because: - The injunctive relief was a "mere recitation" of an existing ADA obligation, with no concrete remediation milestones, no specified WCAG conformance level, and no enforcement or monitoring mechanism. - Attorneys' fees ($2.52M) exceeded the recovery available to the class itself ($2.43M). - The website set up by class counsel for class members to submit claims was itself inaccessible to screen reader users — DOJ retained an expert who identified significant barriers that could cause class members to abandon the claims process. This Statement of Interest is widely viewed as a signal that the DOJ intends to take a more active role policing private accessibility settlements, scrutinizing both the substance of injunctive relief and the accessibility of class-administration tooling.