On November 18, 2014, the plaintiffs, persons with disabilities that require the use of a wheelchair, brought this class action lawsuit against the defendant, Colorado's Regional Transportation District (RTD). The plaintiffs were represented by the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition Legal Program and the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center. The plaintiffs alleged disability discrimination under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Judge Christine Arguello presided over this case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.
The plaintiffs claimed that the defendants did not make their transportation services readily accessible for persons using wheelchairs and in that light rail operators repeatedly denied persons who require the use of wheelchairs access to the light rail.
The plaintiffs, in particular, alleged that the defendant discriminated in two ways. Firstly, the walkways within their light rail vehicles had narrow walkways that restricted the mobility of persons using wheelchairs. This equated to the vehicles not being readily accessible for wheelchairs which was required under the ADA. And Secondly, despite RTD designating seating locations for persons using wheelchairs, in practice, those locations were often unavailable. Oftentimes, the light rail operators would allow non-disabled persons that had either a stroller or bicycle to occupy designated wheelchair seating location. And if a person with a stroller or bicycle occupied those areas, the light rail operator sometimes denied transportation services to a person using a wheelchair. Instead of giving priority to persons using wheelchairs--as required by their own policies-- the operator would often refuse access to the person with the wheelchair if someone onboard with a stroller or bicycle already occupied that space.
The plaintiffs sought class certification, attorney fees and costs, declaratory relief, and an injunction.
After a period of discovery and the like, the parties settled. Plaintiffs filed an unopposed motion for certification of the class for settlement purposes, and for approval of the preliminary settlement on November 14, 2016. The Court agreed on April 3, 2017. After a hearing on the settlement, the court finally approved it, along with attorneys fees, on July 11, 2017.
The settlement agreement had three terms. Firstly, the agreement called for 172 of the light rails vehicles to be retrofitted to accommodate persons that use wheelchairs. The retrofit would make it so that persons using wheelchairs have more mobility within the transportation vehicles. This would allow for wheelchair users to not obstruct other passengers, and that at least two people with wheelchairs can board the vehicles.
Secondly, the settlement agreement required policies that both direct light rail operators to not discriminate against persons with disability the use of a wheelchair, and to train/retrain these operators to ensure that these anti-discriminatory measures are upheld.
And thirdly, the agreement required that the defendant pay the plaintiffs’ attorney fees and costs. The court approved the agreed amount of $ 375,000 for attorney fees and costs.
The court maintains limited jurisdiction over the case for five years to resolve disputes that require court intervention as set forth in the settlement agreement.
Sean Whetstone - 05/18/2018
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