U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division APR 29 1992 DJ 182-06-00067 Coordination and Review Section P.O. Box 66118 Washington, D.C. 20035-6118 Mr. Robert G. Weiss 10849 East Vassar Drive Aurora, Colorado 80014-1769 Dear Mr. Weiss: This responds to your request for an interpretation concerning the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to religious entities. The ADA authorizes the Department to provide technical assistance to entities that are subject to the Act. This letter provides informal guidance to assist you in understanding how the ADA may apply to you. However, this technical assistance does not constitute a determination by the Department of Justice of your rights or responsibilities under the ADA and does not constitute a binding determination by the Department of Justice. Section 307 of the ADA provides that religious organizations and entities controlled by religious organizations are not subject to the requirements for public accommodations or commercial facilities under title III of the Act. Religious organizations may, however, accommodate individuals with disabilities at their own discretion, and do not waive their exemption from the requirements of title III by doing so. I hope that this information is responsive to your inquiry. Sincerely, Stewart B. Oneglia Director Coordination and Review Section Civil Rights Division 01-00674 10849 East Vassar Drive Aurora, CO 80014-1769 (303) 751 - 8322 January 5, 1992 Ms. Sarah Kaltenborn Conditional Review Section Civil Rights Division United States Department of Justice Post Office Box 66118 Washington, DC 20035-6118 Dear Ms. Kaltenborn: This letter is to recap our conversation of January 3, 1992. I am a member of a committee at my son's school, which is a religious, non-profit institution. This committee is trying to put into effect policies and procedures to deal with faculty, staff, and students with infectious diseases, especially those who are HIV positive (AIDS). The committee has received a number of legal opinions on its efforts. Unfortunately, those opinions have been quite divergent. The troubling opinion we have received is related to the "Americans with Disabilities Act," which is tied to the "Civil Rights Act." We were told that if we accommodated any handicapping conditions, like AIDS, we would then wave our exemption under the "Americans with Disabilities Act." If we set a policy for one, we would then have to accommodate all handicaps covered in the ADA. This would prove to be cost prohibitive to the school. The committee's intent is to encourage the school to accept and adjust to those with many handicaps as possible, taking into account our financial and physical constraints. Should the school be in (financial) jeopardy by implicitly waving its exemption by adopting a policy to prevent the spread of AIDS, the committee will recommend that such a policy not be adopted. 01-00675 It is the hope of the committee that your office's "official" opinion will be that: An institution which is specifically exempt from the ADA, will not wave any rights or exemptions, nor have any additional obligations because it adopts policies or procedures for handicaps covered by either the ADA or the Civil Rights Act. (In short, we still retain our exemption.) We request a written reply documenting your agency's opinion, for the school's records. During our conversation, you indicated that you were in agreement with the committee and that a written opinion was available if requested in writing. Thank you for your time and effort in our behalf. Sincerely, Robert G. Weiss Committee Member AIDS Task Force Herzl Day School Denver, Colorado cc: Leslie Englander, Chairperson 01-00676