View all text of Subchapter III [§ 12181 - § 12189]
§ 12182. Prohibition of discrimination by public accommodations
(a) General rule
(b) Construction
(1) General prohibition
(A) Activities
(i) Denial of participation
(ii) Participation in unequal benefit
(iii) Separate benefit
(iv) Individual or class of individuals
(B) Integrated settings
(C) Opportunity to participate
(D) Administrative methods
An individual or entity shall not, directly or through contractual or other arrangements, utilize standards or criteria or methods of administration—
(i) that have the effect of discriminating on the basis of disability; or
(ii) that perpetuate the discrimination of others who are subject to common administrative control.
(E) Association
(2) Specific prohibitions
(A) Discrimination
For purposes of subsection (a), discrimination includes—
(i) the imposition or application of eligibility criteria that screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a disability or any class of individuals with disabilities from fully and equally enjoying any goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations, unless such criteria can be shown to be necessary for the provision of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations being offered;
(ii) a failure to make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures, when such modifications are necessary to afford such goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations to individuals with disabilities, unless the entity can demonstrate that making such modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of such goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations;
(iii) a failure to take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that no individual with a disability is excluded, denied services, segregated or otherwise treated differently than other individuals because of the absence of auxiliary aids and services, unless the entity can demonstrate that taking such steps would fundamentally alter the nature of the good, service, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation being offered or would result in an undue burden;
(iv) a failure to remove architectural barriers, and communication barriers that are structural in nature, in existing facilities, and transportation barriers in existing vehicles and rail passenger cars used by an establishment for transporting individuals (not including barriers that can only be removed through the retrofitting of vehicles or rail passenger cars by the installation of a hydraulic or other lift), where such removal is readily achievable; and
(v) where an entity can demonstrate that the removal of a barrier under clause (iv) is not readily achievable, a failure to make such goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations available through alternative methods if such methods are readily achievable.
(B) Fixed route system
(i) Accessibility
(ii) Equivalent service
(C) Demand responsive system
For purposes of subsection (a), discrimination includes—
(i) a failure of a private entity which operates a demand responsive system and which is not subject to section 12184 of this title to operate such system so that, when viewed in its entirety, such system ensures a level of service to individuals with disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs, equivalent to the level of service provided to individuals without disabilities; and
(ii) the purchase or lease by such entity for use on such system of a vehicle with a seating capacity in excess of 16 passengers (including the driver), for which solicitations are made after the 30th day following the effective date of this subparagraph, that is not readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities (including individuals who use wheelchairs) unless such entity can demonstrate that such system, when viewed in its entirety, provides a level of service to individuals with disabilities equivalent to that provided to individuals without disabilities.
(D) Over-the-road buses
(i) Limitation on applicability
(ii) Accessibility requirements
(3) Specific construction
(Pub. L. 101–336, title III, § 302, July 26, 1990, 104 Stat. 355.)