Wheelers Sue Hotels Over Inaccessible Shuttles


Under the ADA, hotels that provide courtesy shuttles or other transportation services must provide an equivalent level of service to guests with disabilities.
Under the ADA, hotels that provide courtesy shuttles or other transportation services must provide an equivalent level of service to guests with disabilities.

Three wheelchair users filed a lawsuit against a trio of hotel operators they say discriminated against them by failing to provide accessible hotel shuttle transportation. “For those of us who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices, it’s difficult enough to get around most cities when we travel,” says plaintiff Ruthee Goldkorn, from Los Angeles. “All other hotel guests can get shuttled around the city to events, the airport, and downtown attractions, but we just get left at the hotel.” The other two plaintiffs are Kenneth Kilgore and Ann Cupolo-Freeman, both from California.

The federal class action lawsuit, filed on Jan. 15 in the U.S. District Court of Northern California, alleges that although the hotel operators offer transportation services, these services are not consistently accessible for guests with disabilities. The hotel operators are RLJ Lodging Trust, Hospitality Properties Trust, and Ashford Hospitality Trust. All told, the three hotel operators own more than 500 hotels across the country.

Under the ADA, hotels that provide courtesy shuttles or other transportation services must provide an equivalent level of service to guests with disabilities. “This has been the law under the ADA for more than 20 years, and these three defendants have not complied with it,” says Timothy Fox, the executive director of the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center.

Plaintiffs in the case are seeking compliance from the hotels in providing accessible transportation and aren’t seeking monetary compensation.


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Holly
Holly
9 years ago

I wish I had gotten in on this. It totally annoys me when I would see this while traveling. Good luck.