By Joshua Butnick, Esq.
Most people take for granted the simple acts of walking up and down a few steps to enter a restaurant, or stretching up to reach a high product on a store shelf. However, for many individuals with disabilities, these simple daily tasks can be daunting, if not impossible.
For this reason, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, which states, “The Nation’s proper goals regarding individuals with disabilities are to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for such individuals.” New York State and New York City have passed similar laws on the local level.
Simply put, the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in areas of public life.
While there are several aspects of the ADA, the most commonly known (and litigated) is “Title III,” which requires public accommodations to comply with nondiscrimination requirements that prohibit exclusion, segregation, and unequal treatment of individuals with disabilities. A public accommodation includes private entities such as restaurants, hotels, recreation facilities and retail stores.
With limited exceptions, all public accommodations must have handicap accessible entrance and egress with handicap parking spaces if there is a parking lot, allow “service animals” as defined by law, and have policies and procedures in place to generally assist individuals who may be in need.
One emerging area of the law requires businesses to maintain websites that are accessible to the blind and visually impaired. One way websites can be compliant with the ADA, and other similar laws, is to make sure that those websites can work with “assistive technology” such as screen reading programs and voice recognition software.
The ADA allows disabled individuals to act as “private attorneys general” and bring their own lawsuits against non-compliant businesses. Victorious litigants may be able to obtain some money damages under state and local law, but not the ADA. However, a prevailing plaintiff can obtain an injunction that the business corrects the condition as well as attorney’s fees.
This article is written by a member of the Oxman Law Group, PLLC (www.oxmanlaw.com). Any comments or inquiries are welcome and can be directed to Marc Oxman at 914-422-3900 or moxman@oxmanlaw.com.