Justice Department Reaches Settlements With Atlantic City, New Jersey, Hotels On Access For People With Mobility Impairments

NEWARK, N.J. – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and U.S. Department of Justice today announced the results of a four-and-a-half year review of several hotels and casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to determine whether they are being operated in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).

The announcement comes as the Department marks the 25th anniversary of the ADA.  The Justice Department, including the nation’s U.S. Attorneys and the Civil Rights Division, play a critical role in enforcing the ADA, ensuring equal opportunity and full participation for persons with disabilities.

Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by private entities that own or operate places of public accommodation. These prohibitions require, among other things, that a public accommodation ensure that its facilities are readily accessible so that people with disabilities have access to its goods and services.

Settlement agreements were reached with five hotel/casinos that were not in compliance with the ADA: Resorts Casino Hotel, Tropicana Casino and Resort, Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel, The Rainforest Café at the former Trump Plaza, and Trump Taj Mahal. The agreements require the hotels and casinos to remedy any violations, enabling people with mobility impairments to fully access these facilities. These include ensuring that they may reserve an accessible guest room through the Internet, that parking is accessible (including by providing van-accessible spaces) and that guest rooms and services, such as buffets, restaurants and bars and public restrooms, are ADA compliant. The agreements require each hotel and casino to implement and/or amend its ADA disability rights policies and to provide training to its staff regarding the ADA’s provisions.

Any member of the public who wishes to file a complaint alleging that a hotel or any other place of public accommodation within the District of New Jersey is not accessible to persons with disabilities may use the Civil Rights Complaint Form available on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey website at www.justice.gov/usao/nj.  Those interested in finding out more about the ADA in general may call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA information line at 800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit www.ada.gov.