Opinion ID: 199063
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: A Public Entity's Duties Under The ADA

Text: 15 The language of Title II does not elaborate on the obligation of a public entity to an individual with a disability in the provision of services, programs, or activities. We must rely for specifics on the regulations promulgated under Title II. 5 The core accessibility standard set forth in Title II's regulations provides: 16 [N]o qualified individual with a disability shall, because a public entity's facilities are inaccessible to or unusable by individuals with disabilities, be excluded from participation in, or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any public entity. 17 28 C.F.R. § 35.149. A public entity must make its service, program, or activity when viewed in its entirety, readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, id. § 35.150(a), except where compliance would result in a fundamental alteration or an undue burden, id. § 35.150(a)(3) (stating that the public entity has the burden of proving that compliance would require a fundamental alteration or undue burden). A public entity must give priority to those methods that offer services, programs, and activities . . . in the most integrated setting appropriate. Id. § 34.150(b)(1). The public entity must also provide notice to individuals with disabilities of the protections against discrimination assured them, id. § 35.106, and disseminate sufficient information to those individuals to inform them of the rights and protections afforded by the ADA, 56 Fed. Reg. 35694, 35702 (1991). All together, the program access requirement of title II should enable individuals with disabilities to participate in and benefit from the services, programs, or activities of public entities in all but the most unusual cases. Id. at 35708. 18 Addressing specifically access to an existing facility, the regulations give a high priority to mobility for persons in wheelchairs. If structural changes are necessary to achieve compliance, the regulations provide that such changes shall be made within three years of January 26, 1992, 28 C.F.R. § 35.150(c), and an entity employing more than 50 persons must detail its planned structural changes in a transition plan, id. § 35.150(d)(1). If a public entity has responsibility or authority over streets, roads, or walkways, its transition plan shall include a schedule for providing curb ramps or other sloped areas where pedestrian walks cross curbs . . . . Id. § 35.150(d)(2). 6 Congress emphasized in enacting the ADA that [t]he employment, transportation, and public accommodations sections of [the ADA] would be meaningless if people who use wheelchairs were not afforded the opportunity to travel on and between the streets. H. Rep. No. 101-485 (1990), pt. 2, at 84, U.S. Code Cong. & Admin. News at 303, 367. 19 Unlike Title III, however, which requires removal of architectural barriers whenever to do so would be readily achievable, 28 C.F.R. § 36.304, a public entity is not required to make structural changes in existing facilities where other methods are effective in achieving compliance, id. § 35.150(b)(1). 7 If one facility is inaccessible, for example, a pubic entity can achieve compliance with the ADA by moving its services, programs, or activities to another facility that is accessible. See United States Dep't of Justice, The Americans with Disabilities Act: Title II Technical Assistance Manual 10, 19 (1992). Title II's emphasis on program accessibility rather than facilities accessibility was intended to ensure broad access to public services, while, at the same time, providing public entities with the flexibility to choose how best to make access available. See Accessibility Under the ADA, at 53-54; 28 C.F.R. Part 35, App. A § 35.150 (stating that under Title II, the concept of program access will continue to apply with respect to facilities now in existence, because the cost of retrofitting existing facilities is often prohibitive). 20 Pursuant to these requirements, the University was obligated to ensure that each service, program, or activity at the Botanical Gardens when viewed in its entirety, was accessible to individuals with disabilities. One purpose of the Botanical Gardens is to serve as a venue for group events. The University holds open the Monet Garden as a place for group convocations, like the Girl Scouts awards ceremony that Parker attended. The University, therefore, has a duty to make the Monet Garden readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. Such access must be provided in the most integrated setting appropriate, meaning that the University has an obligation to ensure that individuals with disabilities--such as persons using wheelchairs--can travel to and from the Monet Garden using safe walkways, ramps, and curb cuts. Although the University is not required to make every passageway in and out of the Monet Garden accessible, it must provide at least one route that a person in a wheelchair can use to reach the Monet Garden safely, absent a defense that excuses such performance.