UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
                        EASTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY
                             PIKEVILLE DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,       )
                                )
                Plaintiff,      )
                                )
                                )       No.:
versus                          )
                                )         COMPLAINT
DAYS INNS OF AMERICA, INC.,     )
HOSPITALITY FRANCHISE           )
SYSTEMS, INC.,                  )
HAZARD MANAGEMENT GROUP, INC.,  )
J. DOUGLAS KIDD, and            )
NAPIER-SEBASTIAN CONSTRUCTION,  )
                                )
                Defendants.     )
                                )
        The United States of America alleges:
        1. This action is brought by the United States to enforce
title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the
"ADA" or the "Act"), 42 U.S.C. SS 12181 through 12189, against
                a. Days Inns of America, Inc. ("DIA"), the licensor
        of the Days Inn chain of economy hotels, including a Days
        Inn hotel at 359 Morton Boulevard in Hazard, Kentucky;
                b. Hospitality Franchise Systems, Inc. ("HFS"), the
        parent company of defendant DIA;
                c. Hazard Management Group, Inc., ("Hazard Management
        Group"), the owner of the Days Inn hotel in Hazard;
                d. J. Douglas Kidd, ("Kidd"), the architect of and
        for the Days Inn hotel in Hazard; and
                e. Napier-Sebastian Construction ("Napier-
        Sebastian"), the general contractor of and for the Days Inn
        hotel in Hazard.
01-01272
        2. This court has jurisdiction of this action under
42 U.S.C. S 12188(b)(1)(B) and 28 U.S.C. SS 1331 and 1345.
The court may grant declaratory and other relief pursuant to 28
U.S.C. SS 2201 and 2202.
        3. Defendant HFS is a Delaware corporation with its
principal place of business at 339 Jefferson Road, Parsippany,
New Jersey 07054.
        4. Defendant DIA is a Delaware corporation with its
principal place of business at 339 Jefferson Road, Parsippany,
New Jersey 07054. Defendant DIA is a wholly owned subsidiary of
defendant HFS.
        5. Defendant Hazard Management Group is a Kentucky
corporation with its principal place of business at 359 Morton
Boulevard, Hazard, Kentucky 41701.
        6. Defendant Kidd is an individual who resides or has his
principal place of business at 956 Jane Drive, Xenia, Ohio 45385.
        7. Defendant Napier-Sebastian is an Ohio partnership with
its principal place of business at 951 Amlin Drive, Xenia, Ohio
45385.
        8. Venue is proper in this district. A substantial part
of the events and omissions giving rise to this action occurred
in this district. In addition, defendant Hazard Management Group
resides in this district.
        9. Defendant DIA and, upon information and belief,
defendant HFS, operate a system of approximately 1,500 hotels
Complaint Page 2
01-01273throughout the United States under various trade and service
names and marks including "Days Inn," "Days Hotel," "Days
Suites," "DayStops," "Days Lodge," and others (collectively, the
"Days Inn system"). Defendants DIA and HFS do not own any of the
hotels that participate in the Days Inn system; rather, DIA has
entered into and maintains license agreements (the "license
agreements") with the owners or the agents of the owners of each
facility that participates in the Days Inn system.
        10. One of the hotels in the Days Inn system is the newly
constructed Days Inn hotel at 359 Morton Boulevard in Hazard,
Kentucky, (the "Hazard Days Inn" or "the hotel").
        11. The Hazard Days Inn is a non-residential facility whose
operations affect commerce. As such, it is a commercial facility
within the meaning of section 303(a) of the Act. 42 U.S.C.
S 12183(a). In addition, because the Hazard Days Inn is a place
of lodging, it is also a public accommodation within the meaning
of section 303(a) of the Act. Id.
        12. The last building permit for the Hazard Days Inn was
applied for on or about April 28, 1993.
        13. The first certificate of occupancy for the Hazard Days
Inn was issued on or about January 3, 1994.
        14. Defendant Hazard Management Group is a private entity
which owns the Hazard Days Inn. Defendant Hazard Management
Group initiated, contracted for, or participated in all aspects
of the design and construction of the hotel.
Complaint Page 3
01-01274        15. Defendant Kidd is an individual engaged in the business
of providing architectural and design specification services.
Kidd participated in the design and construction of the Hazard
Days Inn by designing the hotel.
        16. Defendant Napier-Sebastian is a private entity engaged
in the business of providing general contracting services.
Napier-Sebastian participated in the design and construction of
the Hazard Days Inn by constructing the hotel pursuant to a
contract with defendant Hazard Management Group, serving as
general contractor for the hotel.
        17. Defendants DIA and HFS controlled or participated in
the design and construction of the Hazard Days Inn. Among other
things, DIA or HFS or both of them
                a. developed standard site plans, building plans,
        room details, and other architectural drawings and
        specifications for new Days Inn facilities;
                b. by means of the license agreement, required
        defendant Hazard Management Group to design the hotel to
        conform to the plans, drawings, and specifications contained
        in the design standards prepared by DIA and HFS;
                c. by means of the license agreement, required
        defendant Hazard Management Group, prior to construction of
        the Hazard Days Inn, to submit to DIA for DIA's review and
        approval, the facility's site plan, working drawings, and
        detail specifications;
Complaint Page 4
01-01275                d. reviewed and approved the site plan, working
        drawings, and detail specifications for the Hazard Days Inn
        prior to construction;
                e. by means of the license agreement, required
        defendant Hazard Management Group to construct the Hazard
        Days Inn in accord with the plans, drawings, and
        specifications approved by DIA;
                f. by means of the license agreement, required
        defendant Hazard Management Group upon completion of
        construction, to obtain from DIA a final approval of the
        facility before the hotel could begin operating as part of
        the Days Inn system; and
                g. upon information and belief, have inspected the
        Hazard Days Inn on several occasions since its completion.
        18. The Hazard Days Inn is not readily accessible to or
usable by individuals with disabilities, as required by section
303(a)(1) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. S 12183(a)(1). The hotel fails
in numerous respects to comply with the Department of Justice's
regulation implementing title III of the ADA, 28 C.F.R. Part 36,
("the regulation"), including the Standards for Accessible
Design, 28 C.F.R. Part 36, Appendix A ("the Standards"). See 28
C.F.R. SS 36.401, 36.406.
        19. Illustrative examples of the failures of the Hazard
Days Inn to comply with the requirements of the Act, the
regulation, and the Standards include, but are not limited to,
Complaint Page 5
01-01276the items set forth below. "Accessible," as used below, means
"readily accessible to and usable by individuals with
disabilities," as required by section 303(a)(1) of the Act, 42
U.S.C. S 12183(a)(1), and as specified by the Standards.
                a. Guests with disabilities at the Hazard Days Inn do
        not have a choice of sleeping accommodations equivalent to
        that afforded to other guests. The hotel has standard-sized
        guest rooms with two beds, larger guest rooms (referred to
        as "suites") with oversized whirlpool tubs, and guest rooms
        with kitchenettes, but all of the guest rooms designated for
        use by individuals with disabilities are standard-sized,
        have only one bed, and have neither oversized whirlpool tubs
        nor kitchenettes. See Standards S 9.1.4.
                b. The hotel has too few accessible guest rooms.
        Hotels with more than 50 sleeping rooms are required to
        provide, in addition to the standard accessible guest rooms,
        at least one accessible guest room with a roll-in shower,
        for use by individuals who cannot transfer from a wheelchair
        into a bathtub. With 60 guest rooms, the Hazard Days Inn is
        required to have four accessible guest rooms, including one
        with a roll-in shower, but it has only three rooms
        designated for use by individuals with disabilities, none of
        which has a roll-in shower. See Standards S 9.1.2.
                c. The guest rooms that are designated for use by
        individuals with disabilities are not accessible, because
Complaint Page 6
01-01277        various operating controls, mechanisms, and features are
        mounted too high to be reached by an individual using a
        wheelchair, are blocked by the placement of the beds,
        tables, or other furniture, or require tight grasping,
        pinching, or twisting of the wrist, which is difficult or
        impossible for individuals with limited manual dexterity,
        including many individuals with paraplegia or quadriplegia.
        As a result, many individuals with disabilities will not be
        able, in these guest rooms, to lock the deadbolt on the
        guest room door, to turn on or off the table and bedside
        lamps, operate or control the room's heating and air-
        conditioning unit, or use the clothes rod and shelves. See
        Standards SS 4.25.3, 4.27.4.
                d. The bathrooms in the guest rooms designated
        accessible are not accessible, because there is inadequate
        clear floor space for an individual using a wheelchair to be
        able to turn around after entering the bathroom, because the
        toilets are not properly located, and because there is
        inadequate clear floor space at the bathtubs. As a result,
        many individuals using wheelchairs will not be able to
        approach these fixtures closely enough, making it difficult
        and potentially hazardous to use these fixtures, as
        individuals may fall while attempting to use a fixture that
        has inadequate space, or from an awkward position. See
        Standards S 4.23.3.
Complaint Page 7
01-01278                e. The doors to the bathrooms in the standard guest
        rooms -- that is, the guest rooms that are not designated
        for use by individuals with disabilities -- are too narrow.
        If someone who uses a wheelchair must stay in a non-
        accessible guest room (if, for instance, the accessible
        guest rooms are already taken), or visits another guest in a
        non-accessible guest room, he or she will not be able even
        to enter the bathroom in that room. See Standards S 9.4.
                f. The hotel's stairways do not have cane-detectable
        barriers to prevent people who are blind or who have low
        vision from walking into the underside of those stairways.
        (A cane-detectable barrier can consist of any object that a
        person using a cane can detect before running into the
        stairway, such as a railing or a curb.) See Standards
        S 4.4.2.
                g. Several rooms and spaces at the hotel -- including
        the conference room, the lobby restroom, the restroom
        adjoining the conference room, the vending machine room, the
        hotel laundry, and the linen storage area, among others --
        do not have visual alarms to alert individuals who are deaf
        or hard-of-hearing to smoke, fire, or other emergencies in
        the hotel. See Standards SS 9.1.2, 9.1.3, 9.3.
                h. The restroom in the hotel lobby is not accessible,
        because it is too small to allow an individual using a
        wheelchair to turn around after entering the restroom,
Complaint Page 8
01-01279        because the toilet is improperly positioned, is too low, and
        has no grab bars, because the lavatory is too low to allow
        adequate knee clearance for an individual using a
        wheelchair, because the lavatory has hardware that requires
        tight grasping and twisting of the wrist, so that
        individuals with limited manual dexterity will not be able
        to turn on and off the water, and because the paper towel
        dispenser is located too high to be reached by many
        individuals using wheelchairs. See Standards S S 4.16, 4.19,
        4.22.3, 4.27.3.
        20. The failures of the defendants to design and construct
the Hazard Days Inn to be readily accessible to and usable by
individuals with disabilities constitute a pattern or practice of
discrimination within the meaning of 42 U.S.C.
S 12188(b)(1)(B)(i) and 28 C.F.R. S 36.503(a).
        21. In addition to constituting a pattern or practice of
discrimination, the failures of the defendants to design and
construct the Hazard Days Inn to be readily accessible to and
usable by individuals with disabilities constitute unlawful
discrimination that raises an issue of general public importance
within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. S 12188(b)(1)(B)(ii) and 28
C.F.R. S 36.503(b).
Complaint Page 9
01-01280                          PRAYER FOR RELIEF
                The United States prays that the Court:
        A. Declare that the defendants have violated title III of
the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. SS 12181 through
12189, and the regulations thereunder, 28 C.F.R. Part 36, by
failing to design and construct a new facility for first
occupancy after January 26, 1993, that is readily accessible to
and usable by individuals with disabilities;
        B. Order the defendants to undertake whatever repairs,
rebuilding, or other remedial steps are necessary to bring the
Hazard Days Inn into full compliance with the requirements of
title III of the ADA and the Department of Justice's regulation
implementing title III, including the Standards for Accessible
Design;
        C. With respect to any facilities that they may design and
construct in the future, order the defendants to design and
construct those facilities in such a manner that they will be
readily accessible to and usable by individuals with
disabilities, as required by section 303(a) of title III of the
ADA, 42 U.S.C. S 12183(a), sections 36.401 and 36.406 of the
title III regulation, 28 C.F.R. S S 36.401 and 36.406, and the
Standards for Accessible Design, 28 C.F.R. Part 36, Appendix A;
        D. Assess a civil penalty against each defendant in an
amount authorized by 42 U.S.C. S 12188(b)(2)(c), to vindicate the
public interest; and
Complaint Page 10
01-01281
        E. Order such other appropriate relief as the interests of
justice may require.
                                      JANET RENO
                                      Attorney General
                                      By:
                                        DEVAL L. PATRICK
                                        Assistant Attorney General
                                        Civil Rights Division
                                        JOHN L. WODATCH, Chief
                                        L. IRENE BOWEN, Deputy Chief
                                        Disability Rights Section
                                        Civil Rights Division
                                        THOMAS M. CONTOIS
                                        ALYSE S. BASS
                                        KEN S. NAKATA
                                        Attorneys
                                        Disability Rights Section
                                        Civil Rights Section
                                        U.S. Department of Justice
                                        Post Office Box 66738
                                        Washington, D.C. 20035-6738
                                        (202) 514-6014
                                        (202) 616-9511
                                        (202) 307-2232
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01-01282