APR 20 1994 The Honorable Bob Kerrey United States Senator 7602 Pacific Street Suite 205 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 Dear Senator Kerrey: This letter is in response to your inquiry on behalf of your constituent, (b)(6) XX concerning the purchase of a touch tone telephone from AT&T. Your letter, which was originally directed to the Federal Trade Commission, was forwarded to the Department of Justice, which has the responsibility of enforcing and providing technical assistance concerning the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by places of public accommodation, including sales or rental establishments. To the extent that AT&T operates places of public accommodations that sell or rent telephones to the public, it is subject to the full range of ADA obligations, including the obligation to make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures, when the modifications are necessary to afford goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations to individuals with disabilities, unless making the modification would fundamentally alter the nature of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantage, or accommodations. However, the ADA does not require a public accommodation to alter its inventory to include accessible or special goods that are designed for, or facilitate use by, individuals with disabilities. Further discussion of this point may be found in  36.307 of the enclosed regulation, in the preamble to that section on page 35571, and in section III-4.2500 of the Department's Title III Technical Assistance Manual. If XX wishes to file a formal complaint with the Civil Rights Division, he may send any relevant information to the Public Access Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Post Office Box 66738, Washington, D.C. 20035-6738. 01-02999 - 2 - I hope this information will be helpful to you in responding to your constituent. Sincerely, Deval L. Patrick Assistant Attorney General Civil Rights Division Enclosures 01-03000