Disability Law Handbook

Public Accommodations and the ADA

What are “public accommodations” under the ADA?

A place of public accommodation is a facility whose operations affect commerce and falls into at least one of these categories:

  • Places of lodging (inns, hotels, or motels);
  • Places that serve food or drink (restaurants and bars);
  • Places of exhibition or entertainment (theaters, concert venues, stadiums, arenas);
  • Places of public gathering (auditoriums, convention centers, lecture halls);
  • Sales or rental establishments (stores, shopping centers);
  • Service establishments (laundromats, banks, beauty shops, travel services, repair services, funeral homes, gas stations, professional offices, pharmacies, insurance offices, hospitals);
  • Public transportation terminals, depots or stations;
  • Places of public display or collection (museums, libraries, galleries);
  • Places of recreation (parks, zoos, amusement parks, gyms, pools);
  • Places of education (nursery schools, elementary, secondary, undergraduate, or postgraduate schools, trade or technical schools);
  • Social service center establishments (day care centers, senior citizen centers, homeless shelters, food banks, adoption agencies); or
  • Places of exercise or recreation (gyms, health spas, bowling alleys, golf courses).

What does Title III of the ADA require from these places of public accommodation?

These places may not discriminate against people with disabilities, and may not deny full and equal enjoyment of the goods and services offered by the place.

I know that employers aren’t covered by the ADA unless they have at least 15 employees. Does it work the same for places of public accommodations? Are they all covered or do they have to be a certain size?

The 15-employee minimum applies only to employers. Places of public accommodation are covered, regardless of the number of employees or the size of the business.

Do both buildings and parking lots have to be accessible to individuals with disabilities?

Yes. Parking lots are also covered by the ADA, with specific requirements for the number of spaces that must be accessible, relative to the total number of spaces in the parking lot.

What kind of businesses have to provide me with a sign language interpreter if I need one for effective communication?

There may be many different situations in which a sign language interpreter would need to be provided by a place of public accommodation, but the most common situations are those in which the person who is deaf is meeting with a lawyer, a doctor, or another professional, such as a financial planner. Interactions with people in these professions usually require the person who is seeking information to get detailed, often technical, information that can affect legal rights, financial status, or health. So the law places a greater emphasis on the provision of truly effective communication in these situations.

I had a meeting with my lawyer and I requested a sign language interpreter because I am deaf. Do I have to pay for the sign language interpreter?

No. In this case, the lawyer must pay for the sign language interpreter. The only way around that is if the lawyer can prove that it would be an undue burden in light of all of the resources available to the lawyer, including tax credits and tax deductions. “Undue burden” is a fairly tough standard, though, in that it isn’t enough for a business or any entity to simply say, “That costs more than I want to spend,” or “I don’t have that kind of money in the budget.” A court will look not only at the bottom line on an entity’s balance sheet, but also what kind of expenditures are there. In terms of providing a sign language interpreter, the lawyer cannot pass that cost to the individual client. It is also important to note that a doctor or a lawyer may not require you to bring a family member or a friend to interpret for you.

The day care center near my home says that it is not equipped to handle children with disabilities. Can they just refuse to accept my child who has a disability?

Day care centers cannot legally refuse to accept children with disabilities because of their disabilities unless it can show that it would cause an undue burden, considering all the financial resources available to the day care center, including tax incentives, or would fundamentally alter the services offered by the day care center.  

Do stores have to have Braille price tags? Do restaurants have to have Braille menus?

No, they don’t have to do that, as long as there are sales personnel or wait staff to provide the information verbally, if requested.

Do businesses have to let service animals come in, even if it’s a restaurant or a hospital or some place like that?

Generally, yes. A place of public accommodation must modify its policies to allow a service animal to accompany an individual with a disability, unless it would result in a fundamental alteration or would jeopardize the safe operation of the public accommodation. In a restaurant, a service animal must be allowed to accompany the person with a disability in all areas that are open to other patrons. In a hospital, the same is true, except that there may be certain areas of the hospital where having a service animal could jeopardize safety, such as in the sterile environment of an operating room.

Are all animals owned by people with disabilities classified as service animals?

Service animals are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability. Some of the more typical tasks are guiding people with impaired vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to certain sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or retrieving dropped items.

I have a small dog that I like to have with me at all times. It calms me down to have her nearby. I have a letter from my doctor that says she is a therapy animal. Is that the same as a service animal?

No. Therapy animals are not service animals because they do not perform tasks for the person with a disability. Therapy animals, sometimes called companion animals or emotional support animals, are therapeutic and helpful to their owners, but they do not meet the ADA definition of service animals and are not protected by the ADA.

If a business has to let a service animal on the premises, who is responsible for feeding it?

Service animal owners are responsible for animal care and supervision.

Can a hotel charge me a pet deposit for having my service animal with me?

No, a public accommodation may not require a person with a disability to make a pet deposit as a condition of having a service animal with its owner, even if it requires such deposits for pets. A service animal is not considered a pet so the rules that apply to pets do not apply to service animals.

If a business just leases its space, then who is responsible for ADA compliance – the tenant or the landlord?

The ADA places the responsibility for compliance on both the landlord and the tenant. But the landlord and tenant might decide, through the terms of the lease, who will actually make the changes, remove the barriers, provide the aids and services, and pay for them. However, both the tenant and the landlord remain legally obligated.

For example, a restaurant leases space in a shopping center. In the lease, it says that the restaurant agrees to abide for all federal, state, and local laws. The restaurant is accessible inside and has removed all architectural barriers within the restaurant, but there is no curb cut or ramp to enable wheelchair users to get to the restaurant. The restaurant owner asks the owner of the building to put in a curb cut so that customers who use wheelchairs can get to the restaurant. The building owner refuses, citing the terms of the lease that says that the restaurant will abide by all federal laws. No matter what the lease says, however, both the building (the landlord) and the restaurant (the tenant) could be sued for violating the ADA because the lease is an agreement between the landlord and the tenant, but does not protect either of them from legal actions to enforce the ADA.

Are big apartment complexes covered as places of public accommodation?

It depends on which part of the apartment complex you mean. The leasing office, which is open to the public, is covered under Title III of the ADA. The housing part of the complex is covered by another law called The Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988.

To be a lawyer in my state, you have to graduate from law school and pass the bar exam. I have my law degree, but the place where the bar exam is given, which is not technically a place of public accommodation, is not accessible. Is it still covered by the ADA?

Even if the facility is not covered, there is a requirement that any entity that offers exams or courses related to applications, licensing, certification, or credentialing for secondary or postsecondary education, or professional or trade purposes, must offer those exams or courses in a place and manner accessible to persons with disabilities – or offer alternative accessible arrangements for people with disabilities.

What if I need modifications on a licensing, certification or credentialing exam?

The entity must make modifications for individuals who have disabilities, including changes in the length of time allowed for the exam, and providing auxiliary aids or services. It’s important to remember that the exam has to be given in such a way that it measures the person’s aptitude, level of achievement, knowledge, or whatever else the exam is supposed to measure, instead of just measuring the person’s disabilities related to sensory, manual, or speaking skills, unless those skills are what the exam is supposed to measure.

For example, when taking a timed test to be licensed as a professional engineer, a person with a visual impairment might need extra time to allow for the use of a reader, screen reader, or other auxiliary aid. The exam tests knowledge rather than speed so allowing extra time is a reasonable modification of the time limits. However, if the same person is taking a test that measures keyboarding speed, then allowing extra time would not be reasonable since speed is the factor that is being measured by the test.

How does enforcement work under Title III of the ADA?

Individuals can bring private lawsuits against the places of public accommodation to get court orders to stop discrimination. People can also file complaints with the Department of Justice (DOJ), who has the authority to file suit in cases of public importance or where there is a pattern or practice of discrimination. In these cases, the DOJ may seek monetary damages and civil penalties.

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