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JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SEEKS TO INTERVENE IN ADA SUIT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department today asked a federal court for permission to intervene in a private lawsuit against the public transportation system in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, on behalf of wheelchair users who have been denied access to city buses.

The Department's motion to intervene, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver, alleges that the city of Steamboat Springs violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it purchased used buses for its public transportation system that were inaccessible to people with disabilities, and failed to properly maintain and repair other buses with wheelchair lifts to ensure that the lifts were operated on a regular basis. This is the first time the Justice Department has asked to intervene in an ADA suit challenging the provision of public transportation services.

"Transportation is the gateway to an accessible society," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "If riders with disabilities cannot gain full access to the public transportation system, their efforts to become and remain employed, to have access to health care and other services, and to participate fully in American society will be greatly diminished."

The Justice Department became aware of the problems in Steamboat Springs, after learning of a private complaint filed by Timothy Richardson and Jonathan Steele, two individuals who alleged they were denied access to the city's transit system on a repeated basis. In the private lawsuit, filed in July 1999, Richardson alleged he suffered from severe frostbite while waiting for a bus to take him to work.

After conducting its own review, the Justice Department also found evidence to support Richardson and Steele's claims that the city failed to provide alternate transportation options to disabled riders when wheelchair lifts were inoperable, and that the city's bus drivers were not properly trained to operate the wheelchair lifts.

The Justice Department's motion seeks, among other things, an injunction prohibiting Steamboat Springs from future violations of the ADA, and the payment of unspecified damages to the complainants to compensate them for the discrimination.

Title II of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in the services, programs, and activities of state and local governments, including public transportation services. The Department of Transportation has issued regulations for public entities to ensure their public transportation systems are accessible to people with disabilities.