UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS DANVILLE/URBANA DIVISION UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) ) No.: 96-2028 v. ) ) COMPLAINT DAYS INNS OF AMERICA, INC., ) HOSPITALITY FRANCHISE ) EQUITABLE RELIEF SYSTEMS, INC., ) SOUGHT PANCHAL & PATEL, INC., ) and BRIAN J. PAPE, ) ) Defendants. ) ) The United States of America alleges: 1. This action is brought by the United States to enforce title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the "ADA"), 42 U.S.C. SS 12181 through 12189, against: a. Days Inns of America, Inc. ("DIA"), the licensor of the Days Inn chain of economy hotels, including a Days Inn hotel at 1019 Bloomington Road, Champaign, Illinois; b. Hospitality Franchise Systems, Inc. ("HFS"), the parent company of defendant DIA; c. Panchal & Patel, Inc. ("P&P"), the owner of the Days Inn hotel in Champaign; and d. Brian J. Pape ("Pape"), the architect of the Days Inn hotel in Champaign. 01-01238 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS DANVILLE/URBANA DIVISION UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) ) No.: 96-2028 v. ) ) COMPLAINT DAYS INNS OF AMERICA, INC., ) HOSPITALITY FRANCHISE ) EQUITABLE RELIEF SYSTEMS, INC., ) SOUGHT PANCHAL & PATEL, INC., ) and BRIAN J. PAPE, ) ) Defendants. ) ) The United States of America alleges: 1. This action is brought by the United States to enforce title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the "ADA"), 42 U.S.C. SS 12181 through 12189, against: a. Days Inns of America, Inc. ("DIA"), the licensor of the Days Inn chain of economy hotels, including a Days Inn hotel at 1019 Bloomington Road, Champaign, Illinois; b. Hospitality Franchise Systems, Inc. ("HFS"), the parent company of defendant DIA; c. Panchal & Patel, Inc. ("P&P"), the owner of the Days Inn hotel in Champaign; and d. Brian J. Pape ("Pape"), the architect of the Days Inn hotel in Champaign. 01-01239 2. This court has jurisdiction of this action under 42 U.S.C. S 12188(b)(1)(B) and 28 U.S.C. SS 1331 and 1345. The court may grant declaratory and other relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. SS 2201 and 2202. 3. Defendant HFS is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business at 339 Jefferson Road, Parsippany, New Jersey 07054. 4. Defendant DIA is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business at 339 Jefferson Road, Parsippany, New Jersey 07054. Defendant DIA is a wholly owned subsidiary of defendant HFS. 5. Defendant P&P is an Illinois corporation with its principal place of business at 1019 Bloomington Road, Champaign, Illinois 61821-1721. 6. Defendant Pape is an individual who resides or has his principal place of business in Columbia, Missouri, receiving mail at P.O. Box 1392, Columbia, Missouri 65205. 7. Venue is proper in this district. A substantial part of the events and omissions giving rise to this action occurred in this district. 8. Defendant DIA and, upon information and belief, defendant HFS operate a system of approximately 1,500 hotels throughout the United States under various trade and service names and marks including "Days Inn," "Days Hotel," "Days Suites," "DayStops," "Days Lodge," and others (collectively, the "Days Inn system"). Defendants DIA and HFS do not own any of the hotels that participate in the Days Inn system; rather, DIA has 01-01240 entered into and maintains license agreements (the "license agreements") with the owners or the agents of the owners of each facility that participates in the Days Inn system. 9. One of the hotels in the Days Inn system is the newly constructed Days Inn hotel at 1019 Bloomington Road, in Champaign, Illinois (the "Champaign Days Inn" or "the hotel"). 10. The Champaign Days Inn is a non-residential facility whose operations affect commerce. As such, it is a commercial facility within the meaning of section 303(a) of the Act. 42 U.S.C. S 12183(a). In addition, because the Champaign Days Inn is a place of lodging, it is also a public accommodation within the meaning of section 303(a) of the Act. Id. 11. Upon information and belief, the last application for a building permit for the Champaign Days Inn was made on or about April 6, 1993. 12. Upon information and belief, the first certificate of occupancy for the Champaign Days Inn was issued on or about September 14, 1993. 13. Defendant P&P is a private entity that owns the Champaign Days Inn and initiated, contracted for, or participated in the design and construction of the hotel. 14. Defendant Pape is in the business of providing architectural and design specification services. Pape participated in the design and construction of the Champaign Days Inn by designing the hotel pursuant to a contract with defendant P&P. 3 01-01241 15. Defendants DIA and HFS controlled or participated in the design and construction of the Champaign Days Inn. Among other things, DIA or HFS or both of them: a. developed standard site plans, building plans, room details, and other architectural drawings and specifications for new Days Inn facilities; b. upon information and belief, furnished standard plans, drawings, and specifications to defendant P&P as a prospective licensee proposing to construct a Days Inn facility; c. by means of the license agreement, required defendant P&P to design the hotel to conform to the plans, drawings, and specifications contained in the design standards prepared by DIA and HFS; d. as contemplated by the license agreement, prior to construction of the Champaign Days Inn, reviewed and approved architectural plans prepared by Defendant Pape for the Champaign hotel; e. by means of the license agreement, required defendant P&P to construct the Champaign Days Inn in accord with the plans, drawings, and specifications approved by DIA; 4 01-01242 f. by means of the license agreement, required defendant P&P upon completion of construction, to obtain from DIA a final approval of the facility before the hotel could begin operating as part of the Days Inn system; and g. upon information and belief, inspected the Champaign Days Inn after the completion of construction. 16. The Champaign Days Inn is not readily accessible to or usable by individuals with disabilities, as required by section 303(a)(1) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. S 12183(a)(1). The hotel fails in numerous respects to comply with the Department of Justice's regulation implementing title III of the ADA, 28 C.F.R. Part 36 ("the regulation"), including the Standards for Accessible Design, 28 C.F.R. Part 36, Appendix A ("the Standards"). See 28 C.F.R. SS 36.401, 36.406. 17. Illustrative examples of the failures of the Champaign Days Inn to comply with the requirements of the Act and the regulation, including the Standards, include, but are not limited to, the items set forth below. "Accessible," as used below, means "readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities," as required by section 303(a)(1) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. S 12183(a)(1), and as specified by the Standards. a. Guests with disabilities at the Champaign Days Inn do not have a choice of sleeping accommodations equivalent to that afforded to other guests. The hotel has guest rooms with two beds and suites with whirlpool tubs, but all of the guest rooms designated for use by individuals with 5 01-01243 disabilities have only one bed and none have whirlpool tubs. See Standards S 9.1.4. b. The guest rooms that are designated for use by individuals with disabilities are not accessible because various operating controls, mechanisms, and features, are mounted too high to be reached by an individual using a wheelchair, or require tight grasping, pinching, or twisting of the wrist, which is difficult or impossible for individuals with limited manual dexterity, including many individuals with paraplegia or quadriplegia. As a result, many individuals with disabilities will not be able, in these guest rooms, to operate the door knob on the guest room door without difficulty, to lock the security latches on the guest room door, to operate or control the room's heating and air-conditioning unit, or to use the clothes rod and shelves. See Standards SS 4.13.9, 4.25.3, 4.27.4. c. The guest rooms, and several public and common use rooms and spaces -- including the meeting room, the guest laundry, the pool and spa area, and the front stair entrance vestibule -- do not have visual alarms to alert individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to smoke, fire, or other emergencies in the hotel. See Standards SS 4.1.3(14), 4.28. Further, none of the guest rooms have visual notification devices to alert individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to incoming telephone calls and door knocks or bells. See Standards SS 9.1.2, 9.1.3, 9.3. 6 01-01244 d. The doors to the bathrooms in the standard guest rooms -- that is, the guest rooms that are not designated for use by individuals with disabilities -- are too narrow. If someone who uses a wheelchair must stay in a non-accessible guest room (if, for instance, the accessible guest rooms are already taken), or visits another guest in a non-accessible guest room, he or she will not be able even to enter the bathroom in that room. See Standards S 9.4. e. In addition to the doors to the guest rooms designated for use by individuals with disabilities (see P 17b, above), several other doors in the hotel have hardware that requires tight grasping, pinching or twisting of the wrist, including doors from the lobby to the guest room hallway, and doors to the laundry room and meeting room. 18. The failures of the defendants to design and construct the Champaign Days Inn to be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities constitute a pattern or practice of discrimination within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. S 12188(b)(1)(B)(i) and 28 C.F.R. S 36.503(a). 19. In addition to constituting a pattern or practice of discrimination, the failures of the defendants to design and construct the Champaign Days Inn to be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities constitute unlawful discrimination that raises an issue of general public importance within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. S 12188(b)(1)(B)(ii) and 28 C.F.R. S 36.503(b). 7 01-01245 PRAYER FOR RELIEF The United States prays that the Court: A. Declare that the defendants have violated title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. SS 12181 through 12189, and the regulations thereunder, 28 C.F.R. Part 36, by failing to design and construct a new facility for first occupancy after January 26, 1993, that is readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities; B. Order the defendants to undertake all repairs, rebuilding, or other remedial steps necessary to bring the Champaign Days Inn into full compliance with the requirements of title III of the ADA and the Department of Justice's regulation implementing title III, including the Standards for Accessible Design; C. With respect to any facilities that they may design and construct in the future, order the defendants to design and construct those facilities in such a manner that they will be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, as required by section 303(a) of title III of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. S 12183(a), sections 36.401 and 36.406 of the title III regulation, 28 C.F.R. SS 36.401 and 36.406, and the Standards for Accessible Design, 28 C.F.R. Part 36, Appendix A; D. Assess a civil penalty against each defendant in an amount authorized by 42 U.S.C. S 12188(b)(2)(c), to vindicate the public interest; and 8 01-01246 E. Order such other appropriate relief as the interests of justice may require. JANET RENO Attorney General By: FRANCES C. HULIN DEVAL L. PATRICK United States Attorney Assistant Attorney General Central District of Illinois Civil Rights Division DAVID H. HOFF Assistant U.S. Attorney Central District of Illinois JOHN L. WODATCH, Chief L. IRENE BOWEN, Deputy Chief Disability Rights Section Civil Rights Division ALYSE S. BASS, LEAD COUNSEL THOMAS M. CONTOIS KEN S. NAKATA Attorneys Disability Rights Section Civil Rights Section U.S. Department of Justice Post Office Box 66738 Washington, D.C. 20035-6738 (202) 616-9511 (202) 514-6014 (202) 307-2232 9 01-01247