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As you should know by now if you are following developments on the Americans with Disabilities Act (or ADA), the most sweeping changes to the ADA in 20 years become effective on March 15, 2012.

It seems that almost every day there is some new development or interpretation of the new rules. For an up-to-date summary of some key provisions, please see articles listed at the end of this posting.

The hotel industry has been visiting the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division to get clarification on the recent DOJ guidance on “fixed” pool lifts.

Congressmen intervene with DOJ on pool lift issues
Last week, two prominent Congressmen, Mike Mulvaney and Todd Rokita, jumped into the fray with a letter to DOJ (see below) acknowledging its important efforts to provide swimming pool access to the disabled community. Here are a few highlights from the letter and the full text is below.
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SAN FRANCISCO-The Department of Justice gave March 15 as the deadline for all hotel properties to install pool lifts for disabled guests who could not otherwise use the facilities independently. According to the DOJ, these lifts must be fixed, well-maintained, and exclusive to each pool.

Recently, Martin H. Orlilck, an Americans with Disabilities defense lawyer, sat down with GlobeSt.com’s Miriam Lamey to discuss the impending deadline and how the hotel industry has and will respond to the requirements.

A question and answer session follows:

GlobeSt.com: What do you think the new regulations mean for the industry?
Orlick:This requirement for accessible pool lifts is not new. The actual requirement has been around for the past 15 years. There have been advocacy groups and therapeutic practitioners who have been advocating for pool lifts for that long. And there were a lot of things that take a long time: It takes a while for the technology to catch up with the ideology. And so therapists and advocacy groups and individuals were pressing for pool lifts and other types of devices including health and fitness equipment while the technology didn’t exist. And there weren’t the right manufacturers; there were a lot of questions about what the standards should be for this type of device. In 2008,the Department of Justice made it clear that they were going to be developing some guidelines for accessible pools. But up until 2010 when these standards were approved, the only requirement was to [be able to] get someone with a disability to the pool.

GlobeSt.com: So what hospitality operators supposed to do after that?
Orlick: Well, that’s the point. But that was the extent of the law: you just needed an accessible path of travel to the pool. Not to get so much into the pool. And for the past number of years, disabled advocacy groups have been complaining about it. Some problems included that there was no way for people to get in or out of the pool, independently or with other assistance. So, an individual [with a disability] would be now paying for the pool that’s built into his or her rates, and they don’t get to use the pool facilities as anyone else would.

GlobeSt.com: What was the response?
Orlick: Well, the access board and Department of Justice worked on developing technical standards for a pool lift. And they’ve done that over the last couple of years. Now, the 2010 standards include scoping provisions – in other words, how many pool lifts does a hotel have to have, where they need to be and the technical requirements. Now, scoping requirements and technical requirements are part of 2010 standards. [The latter] define what the lift is supposed to look like, how it is supposed to operate and so on. The seat is supposed to be a certain size, the lift is supposed to drop 18 inches into the water, things like that.

GlobeSt.com: What does that mean to the industry?
Orlick: The industry is confused – it’s genuinely confused. It’s confused and I’m getting phone calls every day – every couple of hours! – from operators of hotels who are saying “what do I do?” And their concerns are in part financial, but they are not financially-driven. I don’t believe that. They are more driven to asking, “what does the Department of Justice actually require?” And “what does it mean as far as the operations of my property?” Continue ›

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You have certainly heard about the new rules going into effect on March 15 under the Americans with Disabilities Act or “ADA.” Here is some straight talk about WHY you should act now, and WHAT you should do.

5 REASONS YOU SHOULD ACT NOW!

  1. March 15, 2012 is the effective date for the most sweeping changes to the ADA in 20 years.
  2. These changes directly affect every hotel owner and operator in the United States.
  3. Experts expect that a tidal wave of private lawsuits and DOJ enforcement actions will start on March 16, 2012, and that it will dwarf the 12,000 lawsuits filed over the past five or six years under the original ADA.
  4. Owners and operators are each jointly and severally liable for violations of the ADA, and they will likely both be sued. Most ADA claims are not covered by insurance, but most management agreements will require owners to pay or indemnify operators for such claims.
  5. It is much cheaper to prevent lawsuits than to fight them. You can pay a little now to avoid the problem, or you can pay a lot more later to deal with it.

Why act now? It is the law. It is the right thing to do. It is much more cost-effective to prevent lawsuits that to fight them.

If you wait and get sued or investigated by the DOJ, in addition to the cost of making the property fully compliant, you may get hit with fines, plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees and costs. Some states, like California, also can award damages. And the DOJ can fine hotels up to $55,000 for the first ADA offense and $110,000 for each subsequent offense.

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What the DOJ says about portable pool lifts and the new ADA Standards

A hotel client called this morning to tell me that they were about to place an order for a large number of portable pool lifts to comply with the 2010 ADA Standards, and asked whether they should take the plunge and buy them.

Without a doubt, the most frequently asked question by our hospitality clients these days is: “What do we need to do to comply with the March 15, 2012 mandatory ADA pool lift requirements?” The second most frequently asked question is: “Our pool lift vendor assures us that its portable pool lift meets all ADA requirements and is “certified” as ADA compliant? Can we rely on that representation?” If you are confused about what the new law requires, you have plenty of company.

The new ADA Standards effective March 15, 2012
The 2010 ADA Standards for pool access have significantly changed the requirements for municipal and private pools by requiring, for the first time, that they be equipped with independently useable pool lifts during all operating hours. Since the DOJ announced its intention to require lifts in nearly all pools, the hotel industry and others have opposed or sought clarification of this provision.

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What you need to know for your golf course to comply with the new ADA Standards and how to avoid costly litigation or a DOJ investigation

ADA Compliance is par for the course

Effective March 15, 2012, all … golf courses open to play by the general public must comply with the requirements of the new 2010 ADA Standards for accessible design.

Do you remember when top pro golfer Casey Martin successfully sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA) to require the PGA to change its tournament policies to permit him to use a golf cart to accommodate his disability? Martin’s suit alleged that the PGA’s rule banning use of golf carts in certain of its tournaments violated the ADA. The United States Supreme Court sided with him. PGA Tour, Inc. vs. Casey Martin (2001) 532 U.S. 661.

Who knew then that in 2010, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) would implement sweeping accessibility requirements for public and private golf courses? Well, every golf course owner, lessee and operator who was paying attention to the evolution of the ADA should have seen these changes on the horizon. “Golf courses” are specifically identified as “public accommodations” under the ADA. The 2010 changes to physical accessibility and policies and procedures have been on the radar screen of recreational advocates, disabled golf enthusiasts, the U.S. Access Board and the Department of Justice (or DOJ) for a long time. Continue ›

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Certain regulations become effective March 15, 2012. Hopefully, you are already working on bringing your swimming pools, wading pools and spas, golf facilities, fitness facilities, steam rooms, and saunas (and more — see below) into compliance with the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design (specifically the 2010 Standards for Public Accommodations and Commercial Facilities: Title III), which were adopted by the Department of Justice on September 15, 2010 as part of the revised Regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Compliance with the 2010 Standards become mandatory for certain properties and certain elements of all properties as of March 15, 2012.


What is the standard and what facilities are affected? Title III of the ADA requires that each “public accommodation” remove architectural barriers where “readily achievable.” No property will be “grandfathered” (even if built prior to 1990; i.e., the implementation of the ADA). There is no “safe harbor” applicable with respect to those elements in existing facilities that are subject to supplemental requirements (i.e., elements for which there are neither technical nor scoping specifications in the prior 1991 Standards). By way of example only, the following elements of a public accommodation must be modified to the extent “readily achievable” to comply with the 2010 Standards:

  1. Exercise machines and equipment.
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The Department of Justice published revised final regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for title III (public accommodations and commercial facilities) on September 15, 2010. Certain of these amendments became effective as of March 15, 2011, including revisions to the provisions of the ADA governing service animals.

Rules Relating to Service Animals

First and foremost…according to federal law, service animals are not pets. For example, health codes that prohibit animals in restaurants do not apply to service animals. Your hotel may be “pet free” for some purposes, but that policy cannot apply to service animals. The law says that service animals are working animals that have been trained to perform tasks for disabled persons such as guiding the blind, alerting the deaf, pulling wheelchairs, providing seizure alerts, and calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack (which must be distinguished from a “comfort” animal, as discussed below).

Dogs and Miniature Horses as Service Animals

In the new provisions, the federal law was changed to more narrowly define “service animals” to include individually trained dogs which assist their owners with physical impairments. Under the ADA, as revised, “comfort animals” (whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support) are no longer considered service animals.

In addition to the provisions about dogs as service animals, the revised ADA regulations now have a provision about miniature horses (which generally weigh between 70 and 100 pounds) that have been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Entities covered by the ADA must now also modify their policies to permit miniature horses where reasonable. The revised regulations provide for the weighing of certain factors to determine if miniature horses can be accommodated in a facility: “(1) whether the miniature horse is housebroken; (2) whether the miniature horse is under the owner’s control; (3) whether the facility can accommodate the miniature horse’s type, size, and weight; and (4) whether the miniature horse’s presence will not compromise legitimate safety requirements necessary for safe operation of the facility.” Continue ›

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ADA Defense & Compliance Lawyer: ADA reservation system requirements

The US Department of Justice has revised the regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for the first time in nearly 20 years. While the revisions to the ADA Regulations include broad changes in many areas, today’s blog focuses on the changes to Reservation Policies.

JMBM hotel and timeshare lawyer, David Sudeck informs us that the Department of Justice has received so many complaints concerning failed reservations, that the DOJ felt it necessary to include the changes to the law. Most of the complaints involve individuals who have reserved an accessible hotel room only to find upon check-in that the room they reserved was either not available or not accessible.

The changes to the reservation policies will go into effect on March 15, 2012 to allow properties time to comply with the new requirements. To understand the requirements, read on.
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Jim Butler, Chair of JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group reports that many investors view our current economic downtime as the perfect opportunity to purchase distressed hotel and motel assets at substantial discounts. Before any of these investors complete a purchase transaction, however, they should add one more item to their due diligence checklist: whether the hotel’s physical property and operating procedures comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and similar state statues.

Hotel Buyer Beware: When you buy a hotel, don’t buy an ADA lawsuit

The current legal landscape of ADA enforcement

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Does the ADA now require all hotels to provide personal hearing or closed caption devices for deaf and hard of hearing guests?

In November 2010, a disability rights group launched class action litigation against Cinemark’s theaters in California on behalf of “The Association of Late Deafened Adults.” In its complaint, the group accused Cinemark of discriminatory practices against deaf and hard of hearing patrons due to its “consistent refusal” to provide closed (and open) captioned theater experiences at its theaters in Alameda County, California. Although the lawsuit is locally focused, it is of keen interest to the hotel industry and its implications are important.

The ADA was created to ensure full and equal access to “public accommodations” for disabled Americans. All hotels qualify under the ADA as “public accommodations.”

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