U.S. Attorney’s Office Reaches Settlement With Day Camp To Ensure Equal Access For Disabled Children

NEWARK, N.J. – The U.S. Attorney’s Office has reached an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) settlement with Winnewald Day Camp (Winnewald) in Lebanon, New Jersey, to resolve allegations that Winnewald refused to accommodate a child in its summer camp in 2014 because the child had diabetes, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced today.

This matter stems from a complaint from the parent of an 11-year-old boy with Type I diabetes. Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, including diabetes, by places of public accommodation.

According to the complaint:

Winnewald expelled the boy from its summer camp because the boy had diabetes and the camp refused to provide proper diabetes care management.

Under the settlement agreement, Winnewald has agreed to implement policies and procedures to ensure that children with disabilities are afforded full and equal opportunities to participate in and benefit from its summer camp program. Winnewald also agreed publish on its website a statement of its policy on the prohibition of disability discrimination and provide mandatory training on the ADA and its prohibition of disability discrimination to all of its employees who work in the summer camp. Winnewald will also pay a $5,000 civil penalty to the U.S. Treasury.

Under the ADA, summer camps, both private and those run by municipalities, must make reasonable modifications to enable campers with disabilities to participate fully in all camp programs and activities. This generally means that children with disabilities, including diabetes, are entitled to attend any camp or activity that non-disabled children attend, that camps must evaluate each child on an individual basis, and that camps must train their staff in the requirements of the ADA. Camps are also obligated to pay for the cost of any reasonable modifications necessary for disabled children to participate in camp activities, and parents should not be charged any additional fee beyond standard camp enrollment costs.

Individuals who believe they may have been victims of discrimination may file a complaint with the U.S Attorney’s Office at http://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/civil-rights-enforcement/complaint. Additional information about the ADA can be found at www.ada.gov, or by calling the Department of Justice’s toll-free information line at (800) 514-0301 and (800) 514-0383 (TDD).

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael E. Campion of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Civil Division in Newark.