Title III of the
Americans with Disabilities Act: Prohibiting Discrimination by Private Businesses
Title III of the ADA
prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by "private entities" operating
places of "public accommodation." Businesses governed by Title III include banks,
restaurants, supermarkets, hotels, shopping centers, privately-owned sports
arenas, movie theaters, private day care centers, schools and colleges, accountant
or insurance offices, lawyers' and doctors' offices, museums and health clubs.
Title III can be located in the United States Code at 42 U.S.C. §§
12181-12189; implementing
regulations by the U.S. Department of Justice are in the United States Code
of Federal Regulations at 28 C.F.R. Part 36. The Justice Department has published
a Technical Assistance Manual
on Title III with annual
updates.
To date, most Title III case law has focused on physical rather than mental disabilities.
However, a few cases are relevant to mental disability issues. Insurance issues are the focus of several, described on a separate page.
In the context of private
child care, education, health care and access issues, these cases include:
- Roberts
v. KinderCare Learning Centers, 86 F.3d 844 (8th Cir. 1996), rejecting
the plaintiffs' claims that a child care center violated the rights of a disabled
four-year-old by refusing either to admit him or to provide one-on-one care
when the child's personal care attendant services were unavailable.
- Orr
v. KinderCare Learning Centers, No. CV-S-95-507 (E.D. Cal. 1995) (consent
decree). The parties signed a consent decree in which the after-school
child
care provider agreed to allow the continued enrollment of a 10-year-old
with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities.
- California
Advocates for Nursing Home Reform v. Creekside Care Convalescent Center,
No. Civ. S-94-1709-WBS>GH, 15 ADD 1152 (E.D. Cal. 1995), refusing
to dismiss the plaintiffs' allegations that a private nursing home provided
inadequate
care to its residents, in violation of Section 504 and Title III of the
ADA.
- Adleman
v. Acme Markets Corp., No. 95-4037, 15 ADD 859 (E.D. Pa. 1996), concerning
allegations that a supermarket violated Title III by failing to provide a
mentally
and physically disabled plaintiff with the assistance he required in obtaining
certain items and by telling him that he could "shop elsewhere" if he was
dissatisfied. This case was dismissed because the plaintiff sought monetary
damages, and Title
III does not authorize money damages as relief.
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