Beyond the Cases: 26 Years of the Americans 

with Disabilities Act

The Lives, Faces, and Stories Behind the ADA

Twenty six years ago, Congress passed, and President George H. W. Bush signed, the Americans 

with Disabilities Act (ADA), ushering in a new era of civil rights for people with disabilities in this 

country. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division enforces the ADA to ensure that people with 

disabilities can live, work, learn, vote, and play in their own communities – free from discrimination and 

able to participate in the mainstream of American life. This document provides brief case highlights –

along with anecdotal stories – about the impact of the ADA on the lives of people with disabilities 

around our country. The cases highlighted in this document represent just some examples of the 

Department’s work enforcing the ADA over the last six years. To read more about our ADA 

enforcement, visit our website at www.ada.gov. 

EMPLOYMENT (TITLE I)

 Riverside County, California: In October 2015, the Justice Department settled an employment 

lawsuit against Riverside County, California, in which we alleged that the county’s employment 

decisions had violated the ADA. The county – because of outdated and stereotypical attitudes 

about epilepsy – refused to hire an applicant as a youth probation officer because he had 

controlled epilepsy, even though the applicant could perform all of the essential job duties.

Under the consent decree, the county agreed to pay the job applicant $50,000, offer him the 

probation officer position, train its hiring personnel on the ADA, and report on compliance.

EMPLOYMENT (OLMSTEAD)

 Oregon: In December 2015, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon approved a 

groundbreaking agreement that the Justice Department and private plaintiffs reached with the 

state of Oregon that resolved alleged violations of the ADA and will impact approximately 

7,000 Oregonians with intellectual and developmental disabilities who can and want to work in 

typical employment settings in the community.

GABRIELLE – who dreamed of saving up money to buy a home – no 

longer assembles nut-and-bolt kits and knee pads in a sheltered workshop 

for $100 to 150 per month. Instead, she works as a grooming assistant at a 

dog day care and boutique, earning more than $9 per hour. And as she told 

a local media outlet, The Oregonian, last winter, “I feel better about my life 

and ... I ended up buying that house.”
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 Rhode Island: Following our investigation in Rhode Island, in 2013 and 2014 we reached 

an interim settlement agreement and a statewide consent decree. The statewide consent 

decree will provide relief to approximately 3,250 people. The consent decree will ensure 

that, over the next decade, approximately 2,000 Rhode Islanders with disabilities will have 

the opportunity to work in competitive integrated employment, and approximately 1,250 

students with disabilities will get the services they need – including access to internships and 

mentoring programs – to transition into the competitive workforce. 

FINANCIAL SERVICES

 Wells Fargo: In May 2011, the Justice Department reached 

a settlement agreement under Title III of the ADA with 

Wells Fargo & Company to ensure that people with 

disabilities don’t face unlawful discrimination when trying to 

access financial services. Prior to the 2011 settlement 

agreement, Wells Fargo refused to accept Video Relay 

Service calls and directed customers who are deaf or have

hearing loss to call the Wells Fargo TDD/TTY number,

which Wells Fargo did not answer. The Department also 

received a variety of other complaints alleging ADA 

violations by Wells Fargo, including the failure to provide 

financial documents in alternate formats to people with 

vision disabilities. 

For 10 years, JOE couldn’t make online mortgage payments on Wells 

Fargo’s website because he was blind and the site was inaccessible to him. 

Each month, Wells Fargo directed him to submit his payment by 

telephone, which required a $25 service fee. Today, because of the Justice 

Department’s settlement, all customers – including Joe and others with 

disabilities – can pay their bills and manage their finances without 

facing discrimination.

For seven years, PETER earned just $1.50 per hour. But now he earns ten

times that amount, working for the state of Rhode Island as a custodian at a 

hospital. He gets along very well with his supervisors, who trust him with 

significant responsibility to accomplish his work independently. For 

the first time in his life, at age 37, Peter was able to purchase a new mattress.

Before, he slept on a couch and a 30-year-old mattress he inherited from his 

mother. Peter also received his driver’s license and saved up enough money 

to buy a car. Peter and his fiancée Lori, who met at the workshop, have 

also gotten married and are living in an apartment in the Providence area.
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EDUCATION

 Nobel Learning Communities: In January 2011, Nobel Learning Communities, Inc. (NLC), 

which operates a network of more than 180 preschools, elementary schools, and secondary 

schools in 16 states throughout the country, entered into a settlement agreement to resolve 

the Justice Department’s lawsuit alleging that NLC violated the ADA by excluding children 

with autism spectrum disorders and other disabilities from its programs. NLC agreed to

implement and publicize a policy that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and 

requires its schools to provide reasonable policy modifications to ensure participation by 

children with disabilities; train regional executives, principals, and assistant principals on the 

policy; appoint an ADA compliance officer to oversee compliance with the policy; and pay a 

total of $215,000 in compensatory damages to the children’s families.

TRANSPORTATION

 Greyhound: In February 2016, as part of a settlement agreement 

reached with the Justice Department, Greyhound Lines, Inc. –

the nation’s largest provider of intercity bus transportation –

agreed to implement a series of systemic reforms to resolve 

allegations that it repeatedly violated the ADA. Under the terms 

of the agreement, Greyhound – which serves more than 3,800 

destinations and more than 18 million passengers each year across 

North America – will compensate several classes of 

passengers who faced barriers because of their disabilities. 

CHRISTOPHER, who uses a wheelchair, made a reservation for a trip 

across Virginia on Greyhound and notified the company he would be 

traveling in his wheelchair. But when he arrived to board his assigned bus, 

the driver could not operate the lift. He waited for a different bus and driver 

but when they finally arrived, personnel could not find the key to access the 

lift. When a new key finally arrived, Christopher was already three hours 

behind schedule and missed his connecting bus. Eventually he asked a friend 

to pick him up, which involved the rental of an accessible van. 

Unfortunately, on his trip back home several days later, he experienced 

similar problems. Christopher was exhausted, frustrated, and 

inconvenienced by extended delays on what should have been routine 

trips. 
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VOTING

 Augusta County, Virginia: In November 2015, the Justice Department reached a settlement 

agreement with Augusta County, Virginia, resolving claims that the county violated the ADA by 

discriminating against voters with disabilities when it failed to provide accessible polling places. 

Many polling places in Augusta County had architectural barriers that made them inaccessible to 

voters who use wheelchairs or have mobility or vision impairments.

 ADA Voting Initiative: In 2015, the Civil Rights Division, partnering with U.S. Attorneys across 

the nation, launched the ADA Voting Initiative to ensure that people with disabilities have an 

equal opportunity to participate in the voting process, including in the 2016 presidential 

elections. The ADA Voting Initiative covers all aspects of voting, from voter registration to 

casting ballots at neighborhood polling places. U.S. Attorneys’ Offices may investigate the 

physical accessibility of local polling places, review state and local voting policies and procedures 

impacting voters with disabilities, and assess whether actions taken by officials and others deny 

voters with disabilities the full and equal exercise of their voting rights. Through this initiative, 

more than 1,300 polling places have been surveyed to identify barriers to access.

HEALTH CARE

 Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative: Through the Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative, U.S. 

Attorneys’ Offices across the nation are partnering with the Civil Rights Division to target their 

enforcement efforts on a critical area for individuals with disabilities. The initiative makes sure 

that people with disabilities, especially those who are deaf or have hearing loss, have access to 

medical information provided to them in a manner that is understandable to them. The initiative 

has included investigations and settlements with a large array of health care providers, including 

nursing facilities, dentists, doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and mental health facilities. 

 Dominion Hospital: In September 2013, the Justice Department reached a $55,000 settlement

under the ADA with Dominion Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Falls Church, Virginia, to 

ensure effective communication with people who have hearing disabilities in the provision of 

medical services.

A young man was experiencing a mental health crisis, and his mother, 

VICKIE, and his godmother – who are both deaf – went with him to the 

emergency room at Dominion Hospital. Vickie repeatedly asked Dominion 

for a sign language interpreter so she could provide information about 

her son’s current medications and medical history, but Dominion 

refused. Even at the son’s last family meeting to discuss his discharge, follow 

up care, and treatment, the hospital still did not provide an interpreter and 

asked the son to interpret for his mother. This led to the son yelling at his 

mother, Vickie, who could not understand him, and Dominion staff yelling at 

Vickie because of the miscommunications between her and her son. 
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE

 Hinds County, Mississippi: In June 2016, the Justice Department reached a landmark 

settlement agreement to reform the criminal justice system in Hinds County, Mississippi.

The agreement resolves the Department’s findings that the Hinds County Adult Detention 

Center and the Jackson City Detention Center – which together form the Hinds County Jail –

failed to protect prisoners from violence and excessive force and held them past their courtordered release dates, in violation of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act

(CRIPA). The consent decree advances a series of key reforms to protect people with 

disabilities in the jail. It also calls for the jail to establish a Criminal Justice Coordinating 

Committee of behavioral health practitioners, advocates, and community members. This 

committee will monitor individuals with serious mental illness and juveniles at every stage of the 

criminal justice system: from arrest, to detention, to incarceration.

ACCESS TO RECREATION

 Robeson County, North Carolina: In July 2015, 

Robeson County, North Carolina, and the 

Justice Department reached an agreement

under Project Civic Access (PCA), the 

Department’s wide-ranging initiative to ensure that 

cities, towns, and counties throughout the country 

comply with the ADA. Robeson County is 

geographically the largest and poorest county in 

North Carolina, with almost 32 percent of the 

population living below the poverty level. Its total 

population is over 130,000 and is 39.5 percent 

Native American. Under the agreement, the 

county will soon bring two of its playgrounds into 

compliance with current ADA standards so that 

children with disabilities can play there, alongside 

children without disabilities. 

 Wales West: In January 2010, the Justice Department settled a lawsuit against Wales West 

LLC, the owner and operator of Wales West RV Resort and Train and Garden Lovers Family 

Park in Silverhill, Alabama. The lawsuit alleged that Wales West violated the ADA when it 

JAYLA – who lives in Robeson County, North Carolina, and is a 

member of the Lumbee Nation – loves sports and playing outside. 

Jayla has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair. The old setup of the 

county’s playgrounds, which all had a large rubber border and sand 

surface, prevented her from using them. Today, because of the 

reforms mandated by the Justice Department’s agreement, she will 

soon be able to access the playgrounds, so she can enjoy her 

childhood and play with her siblings, just as all kids deserve.
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unlawfully denied full and equal services to a child and his family because the child has HIV. 

The consent decree requires Wales West to establish policies, procedures, and training practices 

to ensure that patrons are not discriminated against on the basis of disability. In addition, Wales 

West was required to pay a $10,000 civil penalty to the United States and $36,000 in damages to 

the affected family.

 Pikes Peak Wrestling League: In October 2015, the Justice 

Department reached a settlement under the ADA with the 

operators of Pikes Peak Wrestling League (PPWL), a 

youth wrestling league that serves approximately 4,000 

children across the state of Colorado. The settlement resolves 

allegations that Pikes Peak Youth Sports Association LLC and 

Peak Youth Sports Association violated the ADA by failing to 

modify their policies, practices, or procedures to allow a child 

who has dwarfism to “play down” one age division at the 2014 

Colorado State Wrestling Championship so that he could 

compete with wrestlers closer to his weight and size.

The RV Resort Manager approached the Glovers at their campsite and informed 

them that the resort’s owner would not allow their two-year-old foster child, 

C.G., to use the common facilities, including the showers and the indoor pool, 

unless and until the Glovers could provide a documented guarantee that C.G.’s 

HIV did not pose a threat to other guests. The Glovers no longer felt welcome 

at Wales West, and decided to leave, eventually settling at another campground in

Alabama. But Mr. Glover and C.G. both had mobility difficulties and the pool 

was too far away from their campsite for either to walk. The Glovers ended up 

significantly shortening their planned month-long vacation. 

Nine-year-old BRAHM has bone dysplasia, also known as dwarfism, 

which makes him smaller and lighter than other children his age. In the 

fall of 2013, when he was seven years old and weighed approximately 

34 pounds, Brahm joined a wrestling club in his hometown of 

Colorado Springs, Colorado. His doctor had cleared him to wrestle 

children of a similar weight. Initially, for the regular season 

tournaments, PPWL allowed Brahm to wrestle in the six and under age 

division, even though he was seven years old, so that he could wrestle 

with children of a similar weight. When it came to the State Wrestling 

Championship, however, PPWL refused to allow Brahm to compete 

in the six and under division. Consequently, Brahm left the 

tournament and did not compete.
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ACCESSIBLE DESIGN

 Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee: In March 2016, the owners and developers 

of 71 multi-family housing complexes in four states with more than 2,500 ground-floor units 

agreed to pay $350,000 to settle claims that they violated the Fair Housing Act and the 

ADA by building apartment complexes that were inaccessible to persons with disabilities. As 

part of the settlement, the companies also agreed to make substantial retrofits to remove 

accessibility barriers. 

 Cedar Rapids, Iowa: In September 2015, the Justice 

Department reached an agreement with Cedar 

Rapids, Iowa, under Project Civic Access, which as 

noted earlier in this document, is the Department’s wideranging initiative to ensure that cities, towns, and counties 

throughout the country comply with the ADA. Under 

the agreement, the city is required to ensure that people 

with disabilities can fully take advantage of the city’s 

services, programs, and activities. Under the agreement, 

Cedar Rapids will also install, repair, or replace thousands 

of sidewalks and curb ramps throughout Cedar Rapids to 

bring them into compliance with current ADA standards 

to improve access for persons with disabilities. Cedar 

Rapids will also ensure that its city parking lots and toilet 

rooms are accessible to persons with disabilities and 

enhance accessibility throughout the city’s park system. 

ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY

 Nueces County, Texas: In January 2015, the Justice Department reached an agreement with 

Nueces County, Texas, that requires the county to assess all existing web content and online 

services for conformance with industry guidelines – the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 

(WCAG) 2.0 – to make web content accessible. Under the agreement, Nueces County will also 

ensure that people with disabilities – especially people who use wheelchairs and other mobility 

devices – can get inside buildings that offer county services and programs. That means the 

county will renovate everything from entrances, service areas and counters, restrooms, and 

parking so that people with disabilities can get into county buildings and use services and 

CATHERINE, who uses a walker, encountered problems with the 

entrance door to the parking pay system in a municipal lot across from the 

federal courthouse as well as with sidewalks when she visited the Fair 

Housing Office at the Veteran’s Memorial Building. Similarly, CHERIE, 

who uses a wheelchair and a walker, has encountered several accessibility 

issues with sidewalks and entrances to city facilities in Cedar Rapids. 

Experiences like these, however, will become a thing of the past over 

the next four years thanks to the PCA agreement.
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programs the county offers. Sidewalks and curb cuts all over the county will also be targeted –

another change that promises to significantly improve life for people with disabilities in Nueces 

County.

 Lousiana Tech University: In July 2013, the Justice Department reached a settlement with 

Louisiana Tech University and the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana 

System to remedy alleged violations of the ADA. The settlement resolves allegations that the 

University violated the ADA by using a version of an online learning product that was 

inaccessible to a student who is blind. The student’s lack of access to the course materials 

persisted for nearly one month into the University quarter, at which point the student was so far 

behind in his coursework that he felt compelled to withdraw from the course. The settlement 

also resolves allegations that in a subsequent course, the same student was not provided 

accessible course materials for in-class discussion or exam preparation in a timely manner.

The agreement with Nueces County will allow people with 

disabilities, like MARSHALL, who was invited to present at 

the Coastal Bend Hurricane Conference in Nueces County. 

Unfortunately, when Marshall tried to register online for the 

conference, he wasn’t able to do so because he is blind. 

The forms on the county website were inaccessible to him 

because he uses a screen reader.