U.S. Attorney Announces ADA Restaurant Initiative

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U.S. Attorney Announces ADA Restaurant Initiative
http://www.clearwatertribune.com/ne...cle_6c154d70-7c2f-11e6-9034-83a36592d16c.html

BOISE – The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho is reviewing restaurants in both Coeur d’Alene and Nampa to ensure that they provide the access required by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the “ADA”), U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. The review stems from the Department of Justice’s congressionally-mandated responsibility to ensure compliance with the ADA and is not in response to any specific complaint against a restaurant.
Federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by the owners and operators of places of public accommodation, which include restaurants. The ADA thus authorizes the U.S. Department of Justice to review restaurants. The ADA requires restaurants to be “designed, constructed and altered in compliance with the accessibility standards established” by the ADA’s implementing regulations.

As part of the review, restaurant owners are first asked to complete a survey regarding their restaurants’ accessibility. Investigators may then visit restaurants to evaluate ADA compliance. If the site visits reveal noncompliance, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will notify the owners and operators. The Department of Justice generally pursues voluntary compliance measures first. It may, however, commence a civil lawsuit in federal court if necessary. It does so, for example, in cases that involve a pattern or practice of discrimination or that raise issues of general public importance.
“People with disabilities who visit, work, or live in Coeur d’Alene and Nampa deserve to have an equal opportunity to enjoy restaurants in these cities, as the ADA requires,” said Olson. “Our goal is to work with restaurant owners to bring them into compliance, so that all their potential patrons have access.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho enforces federal civil rights laws, including the Fair Housing Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. Civil remedies under these statutes include monetary penalties, injunctions, civil judgments and more.

 

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U.S. Attorney reviews Nampa, Coeur d'Alene restaurants for ADA compliance
http://www.idahopress.com/news/loca...cle_106fd50d-5d7a-58ab-95bb-815b78d6c5c3.html

Restaurants in Nampa and Coeur d’Alene are being reviewed for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho announced Friday.

The review is not happening because of any specific complaint against a restaurant but is part of a new civil rights initiative launched by the office, U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson said.

“People with disabilities who visit, work, or live in Coeur d’Alene and Nampa deserve to have an equal opportunity to enjoy restaurants in these cities, as the ADA requires,” Olson said in a statement. “Our goal is to work with restaurant owners to bring them into compliance, so that all their potential patrons have access.”

The ADA is in effect to prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability by the owners and operators of public accommodation, including restaurants. Being a federal law, the ADA authorizes the U.S. Department of Justice to review restaurants.

One attorney in the office is assigned to the initiative, which broadens a focus on businesses’ civil rights compliance the U.S. Attorney’s Office started doing about five years ago in Boise, Olson said. Restaurants in Boise have not been included so far. Olson plans to start in Nampa and Coeur d’Alene and go from there.

“What we suspect and hope is if other restaurant owners read about us doing this, they’ll take it up on themselves … to really look at their restaurant and determine whether they’re in compliance with the ADA and bring themselves in compliance,” Olson said.

Olson said that in her experience, businesses generally want to comply with the ADA. They just may not know all that it requires.

Restaurants are to be “designed, constructed and altered in compliance with the accessibility standards established” by the ADA’s implementing regulations.

A survey for restaurant owners on their business’ accessibility was mailed out this week, Olson said. Investigators will then follow up with visits next week.

Typically, the Department of Justice first asks business owners that are found noncompliant with the ADA to voluntarily fix the problem. A civil lawsuit is possible, particularly if the business has “a pattern or practice of discrimination” or in cases “that raise issues of general public importance,” according to a news release from Olson’s office.

Those business owners found to not comply with the ADA could face monetary penalties, injunctions, civil judgements and more.

 

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The Justice Department can't prosecute one of the worst criminals in the world who is running for President, yet they can prosecute little mom & pop businesses, this country is totally corrupt.