Code of Maine Rules › 94 - INDEPENDENT AGENCIES › 348 - MAINE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION › Chapter 5 - PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS REGULATIONS RELATING TO PHYSICAL OR MENTAL DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION IN PUBLIC CONVEYANCES OF THE MAINE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION › Part II - DEFINITIONS

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
A.
Public Conveyance
"Public conveyance" means any vehicle or any other means of
				  transport operated on land, water or in the air, which in fact caters to, or
				  offers its goods, facilities or services to, or solicits or accepts patronage
				  from the general public. "Public conveyance" includes any person who is the
				  owner, lessee, operator, proprietor, manager, superintendent, agent or employee
				  or any public conveyance. As defined in 14553 (7) of the Act, "person" includes
				  one or more individuals, partnerships associations, organizations,
				  corporations, municipal corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees
				  in bankruptcy, receivers and other legal representatives, and includes the
				  State and all agencies thereof.
B.
Accessible
"Accessible" means able to be entered, exited, and used
				  safely, efficiently, and as independently as possible by persons with physical
				  or mental disabilities.
C.
Separate Service
"Separate service" means a conveyance that is available for
				  the special use of persons with physical or mental disabilities and that uses
				  vehicle(s) separate from the public conveyance available for use by all
				  persons.
D.
Bus
"Bus" means intra-city or commuter transportation by bus or
				  van which regularly serves the general public on a fixed route without
				  restrictions on trip purpose.
E.
Unlawful Discrimination
(1) As in the Maine Human Rights Act, Title 5
				M.R.S.A., §4551,
et seq
.
(2) The Commission interprets the term,
				"unlawful public accommodations discrimination" as defined in the Act and as
				applied to discrimination on the basis of physical or mental disability in
				public conveyances, to encompass three concepts:
(a) Overt Discrimination - an intentional,
				purposeful act of discrimination;
(b) Unequal or Disparate Treatment - treating
				members of a protected class in a different and less favorable manner than
				members of the similarly situated group. Proof of discriminatory motive is
				required;
(c) Disparate Impact -
				conduct which, although applied equally to all, has an adverse effect on
				members of a protected class as compared to the effect on members of the
				majority class; in other words, practices fair in form, but discriminatory in
				operation. intent or motive is of no consequence. See Griggs v. Duke Power
				Company, 401 U.S. 424, 915 S.Ct. 849, 3 FEP Cases 175 (1971).
(3) A prima facie case of
				discrimination exists if the Complainant establishes that membership in a
				protected class, even though not the sole factor, was nonetheless a substantial
				factor motivating the conduct of the public conveyance. If the Complainant
				would not have been denied service or otherwise treated differently, but for
				membership in the protected class, the existence of other reasonable grounds
				for the action by the public conveyance does not relieve the public conveyance
				from liability. See Wells v. Franklin Broadcasting Corp., 403 A.2d 771, 20 FEP
				Cases 548 (1979).
(4) Unlawful
				discrimination includes separation or segregation of persons with physical or
				mental disabilities, except where separate facilities or services are the only
				way to provide access to a public conveyance without imposing an undue burden
				on the operation of the public conveyance. See Part III (D) and (E).
(5) Unlawful discrimination includes the
				failure or refusal by a public conveyance to make reasonable accommodations to
				a person's physical or mental limitations, Unless the public conveyance can
				demonstrate that a reasonable accommodation does not exist or that an
				accommodation would impose an undue burden on the operation of the public
				conveyance.