Here are the three titles in the Americans with Disabilities Act:
Title I | Title II | Title III
TITLE III:
PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS
It is a violation of the law to discriminate against people with disabilities in places of public accommodations. The presence of architectural barriers that prevent people with disabilities from having equal access is considered discrimination. Failing to modify policies or procedures when necessary to provide equal access to people with disabilities is considered discrimination. A business that has facilities open to the public can be sued in federal court for violations of the requirements of the ADA.
WHAT IS A PLACE OF PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION?
Any commercial facility that is open to the public is a place of public accommodation. There are twelve categories of places of public accommodation included in the ADA:
1. Places of lodging.
2. Establishments serving food or drink.
3. Places of exhibition or entertainment.
4. Places of public gathering.
5. Sales or rental establishments.
6. Service establishments.
7. Stations used for specified public transportation.
8. Places of public display or collection.
9. Places of recreation.
10. Places of education.
11. Social service center establishments.
12. Places of exercise or recreation.
In order to be a place of public accommodation, a facility must be operated by a private entity, its operations must affect commerce, and it must fall within one of these 12 categories. Title III of the ADA covers for profit and non profit businesses. Physician offices and health care facilities are places of public accommodation as are lawyer's offices. Religious organizations and some private clubs are exempt from the requirements of the ADA.
WHO IS PROTECTED BY THE ADA?
There are three ways to be protected by the ADA: by being a person with a disability, by having a history of a disabling impairment, by being regarded as having a disabling impairment.
Individuals with a disability are protected by the ADA. A person with a disability is an individual with a physical or mental impairment that causes a substantial limitation of the individual's ability to engage in one or more major life activities. Major life activities include, but are not limited to, caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working. A specific disease or disorder does not necessarily result in a person being disabled. Only when the disease or disorder, the physical or mental impairment, results in a substantial limitation in the person's ability to perform one or more major life activities does the person meet the standards of being a person with a disability.
Because there are some perceived benefits to being protected by the ADA some people who are not disabled will claim to be people with disabilities. Some people who have a physical or mental impairment, but who are not disabled as defined by the ADA, will in error claim to be people with disabilities. Some people who receive Social Security Disability Income will falsely assume that they are protected by the ADA as a result of the Social Security determination of disability which uses an entirely different standard than the ADA. A person who purposefully falsely claims to be a person with a disability in order to gain the benefits of the ADA, such as better parking spaces, better seats at a stadium or arena, the right to bring a dog into a place of public accommodation, are committing fraud which is punishable under federal law.
During the 1999 session of the U.S. Supreme Court three cases were decided that resulted in a narrowing of the definition of who is a person with a disability. A person whose impairment is substantially mitigated by medication or the use of aids (such as a cane for a person who has some difficulty walking) is not a person with a disability under the ADA and is not protected by the ADA. However, this same Court in a previous session determined that a woman with HIV (but with no illness) was a person with a disability due to the impact of HIV on the major life activity of reproduction.
A person who has a history of being disabled, a record of such an impairment, would be a person who has recovered from such an impairment but who still faces discrimination due to the history of impairment as well as a person who was misclassified as having an impairment such as falsely diagnosed as having a seizure disorder.
A person who is regarded as being disabled, regarded as having an impairment, would be a person who is not disabled and does not see oneself as being disabled but is seen by others as being a person with a disability. An example would be a person who had been severely burned and who encountered discrimination in community activities. A person who is denied services or benefits by a public entity because of myths, fears, and stereotypes associated with disabilities would be protected under the ADA as a person who is regarded as being disabled.
WHAT IS REQUIRED BY TITLE III OF THE ADA?
When building new facilities public accommodations are required to design and build their facilities with no architectural barriers that would prevent full and equal access to people with disabilities. The scoping and technical requirements for new construction are provided in the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) published by the U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. Any element of a facility constructed subsequent to the effective date of Title III of the ADA (July 26, 1992) that does not meet the scoping and/or technical requirements of the ADAAG is an architectural barrier and a violation of the requirements of the ADA.
When altering or adding to an existing facility, a facility built before the effective date of Title III of the ADA, the altered or added portion of the facility must fully comply with the technical requirements of the ADAAG. Additionally the path of travel to the altered or added portions of the facility must be reviewed for architectural barriers and those barriers must be removed through alteration unless the removal of those barriers is an undue burden. The ADA defines an undue burden in this case as costing more than 20 % of the cost of the alteration or addition being performed.
In facilities built before the effective date of Title III of the ADA where no alterations or additions are being performed the ADA requires that architectural barriers be removed when the removal is readily achievable and technically feasible. Readily achievable barrier removal is that which can be done without great cost of difficulty. However the cost and difficulty is relative to the size and the overall assets of the person or company that owns and/or leases the facility.
Title III of the ADA also requires the removal of communications barriers. In some cases a public accommodation must provide an auxiliary aid or service in order to provide effective communication to people with disabilities. Examples of such auxiliary aids and services include providing a TDD, large print and/or Braille materials, providing a sign language interpreter, etc.
Public accommodations are required to modify policies and procedures when necessary to provide equal access to people with disabilities. In a grocery store where the only check out line wide enough for a person using a wheelchair is an express line would be required to allow a person with a disability using a wheelchair to use that line regardless of how many items were being purchased. A store that did not allow pets, including restaurants where health department regulations prohibit pets, must allow a person with a disability who uses a service dog to bring their dog into the facility.
HOW IS TITLE III OF THE ADA ENFORCED?
The U.S. Department of Justice has been given the responsibility of enforcing the ADA. However the staff of the Public Access Section is small and only a limited amount of enforcement is possible by the D.O.J. The ADA contains a citizen's enforcement provision that allows any individual with a disability to enforce the ADA through civil litigation. A person with a disability may file a lawsuit seeking injunctive relief in the United States District Court. The ADA provides for the payment of plaintiff legal fees and costs by the defendant so that individuals with disabilities do not have to be able to afford legal fees in order to enforce this law. Most of the enforcement of the ADA, especially Title III, has been through plaintiff litigation by individuals with disabilities.