FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 1997                            (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

 COURT APPROVES AGREEMENT BETWEEN JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AND SOUTH
                     DAKOTA DAYS INN HOTEL

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The owners, architect, and contractor of
the Days Inn hotel in Wall, South Dakota, will take steps to make
the hotel more accessible to guests with disabilities under an
agreement reached with the Justice Department. 
 
     The settlement, filed June 5 in U.S. District Court in South
Dakota, resolves the February 1996 suit which charged that the
hotel had not been built according to architectural guidelines
set forth under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  This
case, filed together with similar suits against four other Days
Inn hotels, was the first to be filed by the Justice Department
challenging the construction and design of a building built after
the landmark disabilities law went into effect.

     The five suits alleged Days Inn of America, Inc., its parent
company HFS Incorporated and the owners, architects, and
contractors of each of five individual hotels   in Wall, South
Dakota; Willows, California; Champaign, Illinois; Evansville,
Indiana; and Hazard, Kentucky;   violated the ADA, which requires
parties that "design and construct" new buildings to comply with
specific architectural standards ensuring that persons with
disabilities can gain access to hotels. 

     "Parties involved in designing and constructing a building
that does not comply with ADA standards for accessibility should
only naturally participate in the remedy," said Isabelle Katz
Pinzler, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights who
applauded the cooperation of the parties agreeing to correct ADA
violations at the hotels.  

      Under this recent settlement, the owners, architect, and
contractor of the Wall hotel have agreed to:

     *    provide parking that is accessible to persons using
          wheelchairs;

     *    provide a path that is accessible from the parking area
          through the entrance of the hotel and public areas to
          guest rooms, including providing accessible toilet
          rooms in the public areas; 

     *    provide a choice in room type among accessible rooms
          for guests with disabilities; and,

     *    provide accessible guest rooms which include accessible
          bathrooms. 

     Days Inns of America, Inc. and HFS Incorporated have refused
to join in the consent order.  That portion of the litigation is
ongoing.

      In addition to the South Dakota agreement, the Justice
Department earlier reached agreements to resolve the lawsuits
against the owners, architects, and contractors in lawsuits in
Willows, California; Champaign, Illinois; and Hazard, Kentucky.  
Litigation is ongoing in the Evansville, Indiana case. 
 
     Today's agreement stems from an 18-month Justice Department
investigation of 28 newly-built Days Inn hotels which revealed
that all 28 hotels failed to comply with the ADA.   The Justice
Department immediately engaged in settlement negotiations with
the parties that designed and constructed the hotels and reached
settlements quickly in many cases.
 
     In addition to the five matters filed in federal court, the
Department has reached agreements with the owners, architects,
and contractors of Days Inn hotels in Fort Stockton, Texas; 
Elberton, Georgia; and Johnson Creek, Wisconsin.
  
     While Days Inn hotels are not all identical, the Justice
Department investigation discovered similar problems throughout
the chain.  These included, among other things, the lack of
accessible parking, entrances, and bathrooms.  The Justice
Department also found that guest rooms lacked sufficient space
for wheelchairs, visual alarms for people who are deaf or hard of
hearing, and accessible mechanical switches for things such as
air conditioner controls, lamps, and security latches.

     The ADA, passed in July 1990, prohibits discrimination
against persons with disabilities.  Title III of the Act requires
that those building and designing public accommodations,
including hotels and motels, built after January 1993, comply
with certain architectural guidelines known as the ADA's
Standards for Accessible Design.  The act also requires that
those who own, operate, or lease public accommodations take steps
to make their facilities accessible to people with disabilities.
The statute authorizes the Attorney General to seek a civil
penalty of up to $50,000 for the first offense.   

     Days Inn of America and HFS are included in the litigation
because they participate in the design of each hotel by providing
prototype plans, imposing detailed design requirements on all
Days Inn hotels, reviewing and approving the architectural plans
for every hotel prior to construction, and inspecting and
approving completed facilities prior to their opening.

     The Justice Department has engaged in an extensive
nationwide education campaign to inform Americans about their
rights and obligations under the law.  Since the law went into
effect, the Department has reached out to builders, architects,
and hotel and motel operators to make certain they know about the
law. 
 
     As part of its public education campaign, the Justice
Department has created a public service announcement advertising
a toll-free ADA hotline and established an ADA home page on the
World Wide Web.  The ADA hotline number is 1-800-514-0301 or
(TDD) 1-800-514-0383 and the home page address is
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm
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