Fremont Street accessibility lawsuit settled

Alana Roberts

Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2004 | 11:22 a.m.

A federal lawsuit filed by the Disabled Rights Action Committee against the Fremont Street Experience in 2002 has been settled following an appeal of the case to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court on Dec. 13, 2002, by the DRAC and DRAC member Tamara Thompson, alleged that the Fremont Street Experience violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act by not making temporary drink bars readily accessible to wheelchair users at the downtown Las Vegas attraction.

Thompson alleged in the lawsuit that when she and another DRAC member attended a "ho down" at the Fremont Street Experience on Dec. 5, 2002, she found that the bars were too high to purchase a drink.

"More specifically, the bars did not provide a level ground surface upon which a wheelchair user could transact the purchase of a beverage and did not provide any portion of counter space that was not higher than 36 inches," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks in July 2003 and was appealed in August 2003. The case underwent a court-ordered mediation process and the settlement was filed on Jan. 30.

Pat Reilly, an attorney for the Fremont Street Experience, and Rick Armknecht, an attorney for DRAC, declined to comment on the settlement. Joe Schillaci, chairman of the Fremont Street Experience, also declined to comment on the settlement.

This case followed a similar federal lawsuit filed by DRAC and DRAC member Ronald Ray Smith in 1998. That case was dismissed in July 2001, and was appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where the dismissal was upheld.

Armknecht said he petitioned to have the U.S. Supreme Court review the case, but the high court declined to do so.

Armknecht said although DRAC has had some losses, it had a major win when its case against Las Vegas Developer Pacific Properties and Development Corp. was reinstated by the 9th Circuit Court last month. He said the case defined who is eligible to bring suit against a property for violations of federal fair housing laws.

The appeals court overturned the decision of U.S. District Court Judge Lloyd George, who dismissed DRAC's lawsuit. The lawsuit alleged that five Pacific Properties developments had inaccessible interior doorways, pathways and thermostats.

DRAC filed a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and then a lawsuit in federal court. George dismissed the case, saying the group's members weren't the ones who lived in the units.

Armknecht said the appeals court's decision will affect the way other courts deal with the way disabled people "test" housing sites for compliance with federal fair housing laws.

"The (HUD) office there in San Francisco had a narrow interpretation of who is qualified to bring a suit under fair housing (law). The 9th Circuit decided it is broad. It's big news in the disabled rights community, all over the country. It's not a precedence in other circuits, but because it's the only one of its kind, it's going to have an impact beyond the 9th Circuit," Armknecht said.