Ninth Circuit: School District Meets ADA Standards with Adequate ‘Program Access’
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment to a school district in a case in which it was sued under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for not providing bleachers that are wheelchair-accessible.
Central to the court’s ruling was the fact that the facility was built prior to the ADA’s enactment in January of 1992. The school district was not obligated to structurally alter public seating as long as it “provides program access to individuals who use wheelchairs.”
The defendant in the case is the Lindsay Unified School District (LUSD) in Lindsay, Cal. “Lindsay High School has a football field that is typical of those found at many small high schools,” noted the appeals court. “It consists of a turf field surrounded by a chain-link fence. Beyond the fence lies a single set of metal bleachers on the south side of the field. The bleachers are small, spanning from one 30-yard line to the other, and they are surrounded by pavement on all sides. The field does not offer any other public seating.”
Furthermore, the court wrote that the bleachers were constructed in 1971, “and have never been reconstructed or altered. The bleachers are not wheelchair accessible.” However, the district does designate three specific locations where the game can be watched by those bound to a wheelchair. The court added that these locations offer unobstructed views.
The plaintiff is Timothy Daubert, who is disabled and restricted to a wheelchair. Daubert periodically attended home football games at Lindsay High School (LHS) between 1997 and 2005. Daubert claims that the experience was less than desirable because he had “an inferior view of the field.” Elaborating on this, he argued that he should be able to sit with other fans and be able to enjoy “elevated stadium-style seating.”
Daubert ultimately sued, alleging that the school district violated Title II of the ADA because LHS’ bleachers are not wheelchair accessible. The district court granted summary judgment to LUSD, concluding that the bleachers constituted an existing facility under the ADA, and that the school district was not required to provide wheelchair access to the bleachers as long as it provided “program access” to disabled patrons at the football field.
Daubert appealed.
Elaborating on the “public access” concept, the appeals court looked to relevant case law for instruction.
“Title II’s emphasis on ‘program accessibility’ rather than ‘facilities accessibility’ was intended to ensure broad access to public services, while, at the same time providing public entities with the flexibility to choose how best to make access available.” Parker v. Universidad de Puerto Rico, 225 F.3d 1, 6 (1st Cir. 2000)
Of relevance to “older facilities, for which structural change is likely to be more difficult, a public entity may comply with Title II by adopting a variety of less costly measures. … (O)nly if these measures are ineffective in achieving accessibility is the public entity required to make reasonable structural changes.” Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U.S. 509 (2004).
The appeals court found that the school district had done enough, refusing to bite on the plaintiff’s argument that “program access not only requires access to football games, but also includes access” to the south-side bleachers.
“Here, the school district offers football games as a public program, and the bleachers are one part of the facility in which the program takes place,” the appeals court wrote. “While sitting in the south-side bleachers may offer a particular social experience, this experience is merely incidental to the program the government offers (i.e., football games).”
Daubert v. Lindsay Unified Sch. Dist., 9th Cir.; No. 12-16252; 7/25/14
