A federal judge from the District of Colorado has sided with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) after several Paralympians sought “the equitable allocation of benefits between Paralympians and Olympians competing on behalf of the United States,” based on § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Specifically, the court found that while “desired, such a mandate must derive from the legislative branch or appropriate agency of the Executive.”
The initial claim in the case was brought by wheelchair basketball Paralympian Mark Shepherd, who challenged the USOC’s “purported failure to provide him with the services, benefits and financial and other support routinely provided to his Olympic counterparts.” Shepherd was joined by others, who claimed that “it is discriminatory for the USOC to provide them programming, privileges, and financial support inferior to that provided non-disabled athletes under the Olympic program.”
They also claimed “the USOC discriminates against elite Paralympic athletes by promoting, marketing and selling (or limiting U.S. Paralympic’s ability to promote, market and sell) rights to the Paralympic trademark at a level below the level it promotes, markets and sells rights to the Olympic mark, which has the effect of limiting the funds available for Paralympic programs and limiting the public’s awareness of the Paralympics and individual Paralympic athletes.
“Finally, Plaintiffs claim the statutory governance structure of the USOC discriminates against Paralympic athletes by denying them representation.”
Early on in the opinion, the court focused on whether the ADA and Rehabilitation Act prohibits the USOC “from allocating reduced or inferior benefits” to Paralympic athletes.
“My ultimate and reluctant conclusion is that the USOC is correct and Plaintiffs have no actionable right under the ADA or Rehabilitation Act to enjoin the USOC’s actions in allocating lesser privileges and benefits to Paralympic athletes than Olympic athletes,” wrote the court.
“I am troubled that Plaintiffs’ theory of relief fundamentally overreaches, looking to the courts and federal antidiscrimination law to remedy inequities in the quality of the accommodation afforded certain disabled elite athletes to compete internationally in amateur athletics – accommodations that are defined exclusively by those athletes’ inability to compete without accommodation – that are not enjoyed by the non-disabled public at large and which exist solely as a reflection of political will (or lack thereof) within the USOC and/or the legislative and executive branches of government directing its charter.”
While the court was unyielding, it was still sympathetic.
“Do I decry a culture that relegates Paralympians to second class status in the quantity and quality of benefits and support they receive from the USOC? Emphatically yes. I conclude, however, that the ADA and Rehabilitation Act are aimed at the baser stuff of discrimination, such as the denial generally of a disabled person’s right to participate fully and equally in public life, including places offering sports and recreation to the general public. The ADA and Rehabilitation Act simply do not apply to the wrongs alleged by Plaintiffs.”
The court went on to grant the defendants’ motion for summary judgment.
Mark E. Shepherd v. United States Olympic Committee et al.; D. Colo.; Civil Action No. 99-cv-2077-JLK, Civil Action No. 03-cv-1364-JLK, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83646; 11/16/06
Attorneys of Record: (for plaintiff) Amy Farr Robertson, LEAD ATTORNEY, Timothy Patrick Fox, LEAD ATTORNEY, Fox & Robertson, P.C., Denver, CO; Darold W. Killmer, LEAD ATTORNEY, Killmer, Lane & Newman, LLP, Denver, CO; Michael Wayne Breeskin, LEAD ATTORNEY, Arc of Denver, Inc., Denver, CO. (for defendant USOC) Anne Hall Turner, LEAD ATTORNEY, John William Cook, LEAD ATTORNEY, Hogan & Hartson, LLP-Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO; Christopher Todd Handman, LEAD ATTORNEY, Hogan & Hartson, LLP-DC, Washington, DC; Edward John Butler, LEAD ATTORNEY, Nancy Dawn Webber, LEAD ATTORNEY, Raymond Myles Deeny, LEAD ATTORNEY, Sherman & Howard, L.L.C.- Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO.
