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The Dynamic Impact of the American with Disabilities Act on the Hospitality Industry The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a Federal civil rights law that was passed in 1990. It was created with the purpose to protect people with hearing, vision and speech impairments. The law should protect them against discrimination in everyday activities. It is known that it is difficult for such people to buy an item at the store, or to travel somewhere, or to enjoy meat at a restaurant. The ADA includes requirements for businesses engaged in the hospitality industry. According to the report of National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, 1992, a public accommodation is a private entity that owns, operates, leases, or leases to, a place of public accommodation.
And in the hospitality industry such operations include restaurants, hotels, motels, and resorts. The requirements in the ADA went into effect on January 26, 1992. They demand businesses that serve the public to review their policies, and follow accessible design standards when constructing or altering facilities; all businesses serving the public must be accessible after January 26, 1992; also, any lodging operations constructed after January 1992 must be "fully" accessible to all traveling guests. (Troy, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, 1992). These measures help to break existing barriers and provide auxiliary aids and services. The major part of services in the hospitality industry includes services for travelers. Disabled travelers want to travel more but hotels do not provide them with adequate accommodations.
The ADA was designed to protect the civil rights of travelers with disabilities. It should give them equal access to goods and services. The two fundamental principles were taking into consideration: (a) that economic gains will result from the purchasing power of additional disabled traveling consumers, and (b) the disabled traveler's life will be enriched because of an increased productive life. (Torres, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, 1992). It goes without saying, that the ADA legislation had a great influence on the lodging sector. And, generally, this influence was negative. It happened because of financial difficulties.
The lodging operations had to be "equally" or "fully" accessible for all guests. But sometimes financial hardship was unfounded, because the ADA demanded to make changes taking into account possibility of the business. For example, parking spaces and drinking fountains can be made first of all, and later other changes can be made. However, a lot of owners were sure that the costs would be rather high. The ADA is based on common sense. Following the law public accommodations such as stores, banks, hotels, and restaurants should remove architectural barriers if it is possible, "without much difficulty or expense. " Some measures are not expensive and can be fulfilled, such as installing a bathroom grab bar; lowering a paper towel dispenser or rearranging furniture.
But, certainly, there are some cases when it is impossible to meet the ADA requirements, especially in older structures. For example, there is no enough space to build a ramp or install an elevator; or may be the business is not profitable enough. But an owner can provide curbside service to persons with disabilities. The law just requires doing all possible attempts to help disabled people to enjoy the service.
Most of all, the ADA requires businesses to improve their facilities constantly and develop a long-term plan for barrier removal. But the problem has another side. According to the statistic researches the amount of the travelers with disabilities grows rapidly and is a significant part of the traveling population. Eric Lipp, Founder and Director of the Open Doors Organization said, These statistics demonstrate that, if properly reached, people with disabilities can be an extremely profitable marketing target. (Amarante, Promoting ADA Compliancy Could Double Group's Biz 1) The federal government has to control the fulfillment of the ADA requirements to help to remove specified barriers. With this purpose the ADA legislation was designed. But, unfortunately, it has made the situation more complex.
It has provoked a great number of lawsuits. On September 24, 2003, there was an educational seminar for the lodging industry about the ADA in Monterey, California. One of the delegates James O. Abrams said: "The complexities and uncertainties of ADA compliance for the lodging industry many times has property owners and managers defending themselves in lawsuits, rather than focusing on running their properties, "Many lodging establishments simply need to know their obligations and requirements to be able to take the appropriate steps for compliance, which will help keep them out of court. " (Seminar for the Lodging Industry) For many years ADA litigation's have been a great source for making money in many states.
The hospitality industry has been one of weaker spot of abusive ADA litigation. A lot of restaurants and hotels have become the victims though they have corrected technical ADA violations quickly. The problem is that the law has not included a period to cure or correct violations. Congress has tried to make the situation better and added new requirements. According to them a plaintiff must make an attempt to settle the dispute before litigation. But it has failed; and most of all, made the litigation even more lucrative.
It gave an opportunity for plaintiffs to choose specific businesses and visit them constantly, looking for ADA violations. The actions were fair and legal. But after a while the plaintiffs filed a complaint against the establishments and requested attorneys fees in each instance. In many cases such lawsuits cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. Often the cases did not go to trial and were settled for $ 20, 000 -$ 35, 000 or more from one establishment. For defendants it was cheaper to settle everything outside of court, because the ADAs language was vague and cases took a lot of time.
Most of all if defendants lost the case they had to pay the legal fees and the plaintiffs attorneys fees too. The longer the case was the higher fees were. In 2004, the owners of a Chinese restaurant in Solvang, California were sued for $ 300, 000 under the ADA. But they got to know that the same plaintiff had filed 300 similar lawsuits since 1998. The owners decided to prove that it was an outrage. U.
S. District Judge Rafeedie ruled that neither the plaintiff nor his lawyer would have right to file an ADA suit without notification of the court. Rafeedie pointed that the ruling does not limit the right of a legitimately aggrieved disabled individual to seek relief under the ADA; it only prevents abuse of the law by professional plaintiffs, like Molski and their lawyers... whose priority is their own financial gain, and not the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities. (Orlick, Courts Deal Blow to Plaintiffs Lawyers) The ADA does not cover everyone claims. The definition of "individual with a disability" is fraught with conditions and must be applied on a case-by-case basis As a rule, owners of the hospitality businesses always agree with the requirements of the ADA and try to correct them immediately.
But the law should protect the rights of all: plaintiffs and owners. Plaintiffs or plaintiffs organizations do not act tactfully and leave owners soured. As it was pointed, many ADA lawsuits were abusive. But the last courts decisions give a hope that the situation will be better soon. The situation with the ADA gave the birth to many myths. There are some more well-spread.
According to the myth the law requires to hire sign language interpreters everywhere. The fact is that people with disabilities should be provided with possible materials (written or exchanging notes) for effective communication. If hiring sign language interpreters cause an undue financial or administrative burden this measure is not obligatory. The other issue is hiring unqualified people. But protection disabled people from discrimination according to the ADA does not mean hiring unqualified job applicants or employees with a disability. They must meet all the requirements of the job.
Many employers think that accommodating workers with disabilities costs too much. But according to the last data among 436 reasonable accommodations 69 % cost nothing, 28 % cost less than $ 1, 000, and only 3 % cost more than $ 1, 000. Most of all the ADA covers people with severe depression or people with a history of alcoholism who are judged by their employers, not on the basis of their abilities, but rather upon stereotypes and fears that employers associate with their conditions. The government provides federal tax incentives to meet the cost of ADA compliance.
After a great number of abusive and long litigants businesses treat with suspicious to the ADA; because they are sure that fines for violation the ADA will be rather high. Courts may levy civil penalties only in cases brought by the Justice Department, not private. The Department only seeks such penalties when the violation is substantial and the business has shown bad faith in failing to comply. Bad faith can take many forms, including hostile acts against people with disabilities, a long-term failure even to inquire into what the ADA requires, or sustained resistance to voluntary compliance. The Department also considers a business's ize and resources in determining whether civil penalties are appropriate. Civil penalties may not be assessed in cases against state or local governments or employers.
In 2001 there were about 50 million people with a disability over the age of 15 in the United States. For the period of five years people with disabilities doubled their spending in the hospitality industry. Most of all a lot of jobs have been created during that period. The study has been made by the Chicago-based Open Doors Organization. Eric Lipp, Founder and Director of the Open Doors Organization said that This study will teach the travel, entertainment and hospitality-related business, more about the size, revenue opportunities and preferences of people with disabilities, said Lipp.
Further, this information will enable business to determine how best to meet these needs in order to realize revenue growth among a large, but relatively untapped market. (Amarante, Promoting ADA Compliancy Could Double Group's Biz 1) So, it goes without saying that the requirements proposed by the ADA are important and improve the conditions for disabled people. Bibliography: Amarante, K. (2003). Promoting ADA Compliancy Could Double Group's Biz 1. Hotel Interactive.
Retrieved 20 June, 2006 from web Americans with Disabilities Act -ADA- Seminar for the Lodging Industry - A cooperative association effort by CH&LA. (2003) Industry News. California Hotel & Lodging Association. Retrieved 20 June, 2006 from web Business Connection. (2006), Americans with disabilities Act ADA. Retrieved 20 June, 2006 from web Orlick, M. (2005). Courts Deal Blow to Plaintiffs Lawyers. The Global Hospitality Advisor.
Hotel Online Special Report. JMBM. Retrieved 20 June, 2006 from web Torres, F. (1994). The Age-Disability Connection.
Modern Maturity, Vol. 14 (6), p. 29. Troy, T. (1993). Dealing with the Disabilities. Hotel & Motel Management, Vol. 208 (6), pp. 28 - 29.
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Research essay sample on Hospitality Industry Disabilities Act
