Deaf man sues Pornhub over lack of closed captions
A deaf man has sued Pornhub and other pornographic websites because he said he “cannot enjoy video content” without closed captioning.
Yaroslav Suris, a New York resident, tried to watch videos on Pornhub entitled “Hot Step Aunt Babysits Disobedient Nephew,” “Sexy Cop Gets Witness To Talk” and others in October 2019 and January 2020, but was could not due to the website's lack of closed captioning, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in the Eastern District of New York.
The lawsuit alleges that Pornhub, RedTube and YouPorn are in violation of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. Part of the ADA's goal is to provide “full and equal enjoyment” of a public accommodation’s goods, services, facilities and privileges, according to the lawsuit.
"Websites that prevent accessibility to deaf and hard of hearing individuals is a discriminatory act," the lawsuit reads.
The ADA cites that its purpose is "to make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else."
Pornhub's Vice President Corey Price disputed the claim that the website doesn't offer closed captions.
"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," according to a statement from Price provided to ABC News. The statement included a link to its closed captions section.
Suris has previously sued Fox News, the New York Post and other outlets alleging similar ADA violations on their websites.
He is seeking compensatory damages, civil penalties and fines against Pornhub.
