#177

III-1.0000
III-5.1000 November 13, 1995

The Honorable Arlen Specter

United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510-6275

Dear Senator Specter:

Thank you for your recent letter to Assistant Attorney

General Deval Patrick expressing your continued support for this
Department's enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act
of 1990 (ADA).

In that letter, you noted that Days Inns of America, Inc.

had informed you about the Civil Rights Division's investigation
of several newly constructed Days Inns hotels that fail to comply
with the ADA's architectural requirements for accessibility.
Based on the information that you received from Days Inns of
America, you expressed some concerns about the Department's
interpretation of the scope of 303 of the ADA.

Because these matters are currently open and under

investigation, the Department cannot comment on them in detail,
although we do want to respond to your concerns as fully as
possible. We agree with you that property owners, architects,
and builders are responsible for the accessible design and
construction of new facilities. Indeed, that is precisely why,
for each facility under investigation, we have included several
parties as respondents, including the owner of the facility, the
architect or engineer who designed the facility, and the general
contractor or construction manager in charge of the construction
of the facility. Thus, in addition to pursuing these matters
with Days Inns of America, we are also pursuing them with at
least 84 additional parties. We have indicated to each of the
parties that we believe each of them bears full responsibility
for the facility's compliance with the ADA's accessibility
requirements. We have had extensive discussions regarding
potential remedies for the ADA violations at particular hotels,
and possible settlement of individual cases.

Your letter also raised a concern that an investigation of a

party with an attenuated connection to the design and
construction of a new facility, such as a franchisor or licensor,
could discourage compliance with the ADA. Again, because this
matter is still under investigation, we are constrained in our
ability to respond in detail. As a general matter, we agree with
you that the issue of liability depends on the facts,
particularly on the entity's involvement in the design and
construction process. Thus, where the licensor or franchisor of
a chain of facilities -- whether hotels, restaurants, department
stores, or other types of facilities -- exercises a significant
degree of control over the design and construction of the
facilities that will bear its tradenames and trade dress, then
that franchisor or licensor (or any other entity similarly
involved) shares the responsibility for ensuring that the
facilities in its chain are readily accessible to and usable by
individuals with disabilities. Given the resources and
sophistication of most franchisors or licensors, we do not
believe that such an entity should be able to disregard the ADA's
requirements, and impose the full responsibility for compliance
onto the typically small businessmen and women who own the
facilities.

I hope this information is helpful and resolves your

concerns about our investigation.

Sincerely,

Andrew Fois
Assistant Attorney General