Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 10
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO
Aiming for justice,
not profit
CHIP ROGERS
AAHOA President & CEO
T
leaders of
"theAshospitality
industry, we
must take action
to protect our
businesses so
that all can have
access, those
with disabilities
and those
without.
"
HE AMERICAN JUDICIAL
system is the product of
over 200 years of thoughtful legal study and practice.
By 1990, the year that the
Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) became law, the system had
repealed centuries-old discriminatory
statutes, established universal civil rights
and unequivocally affirmed that even the
president himself was not above the law.
But even the best system can be distorted
and abused. Over the past 20 years, "serial
plaintiffs," assisted by opportunistic lawyers, have targeted restaurants, hotels and
myriad other small businesses throughout
the United States under the guise of forcing
ADA compliance. Alleged violations run
the gamut, from parking spaces painted
the wrong shade of blue to disabled-access
signs hung a few inches too low. But all the
lawsuits have one thing in common: they
aim for profit, not justice.
In the last 10 years, the volume of ADA
lawsuits in American courts has climbed
to pandemic proportions. A quick Google
search turns up recent suits in Arizona,
California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii,
Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania
and Texas. As attorney John Alan Doran
said in a recent issue of the Phoenix Business
Journal, these lawsuits - over 9,200 in 2014
and 2015 - leave little room for doubt that
our system "is completely broken."
Late last year, however, a small handful
of representatives and law enforcement
officials began taking steps to fight back.
In October, U.S. Congressman Ted Poe
(R-TX) introduced the ADA Education and
Reform Act of 2015 (H.R. 3765), which allows
business owners 120 days to correct ADA
noncompliance before facing legal action.
Minnesota and Texas have both introduced
state laws requiring would-be plaintiffs to
10 | OCTOBER 2016 | TODAYSHOTELIER.COM
notify businesses of alleged noncompliance
and allow at least 90 days for necessary
upgrades or repairs.
Perhaps most notably, Arizona Attorney
General Mark Brnovich voluntarily intervened in a suit filed in Arizona's Maricopa
County Superior Court, calling the suit "a
matter of public importance," and asked
the judge to dismiss more than 1,000
similar suits - all filed by the dubiously
named Advocates for Individuals with
Disabilities (AID).
AID's modus operandi, unfortunately, is
not unique. Since the ADA's passage, there
has been no shortage of individuals who
aim to line their pockets at the expense of
American small businesses - businesses for
which a settlement of a few thousand dollars frequently spells doom. The fact that
the inclusive spirit of the law has become
eroded in their litigious, self-serving hands
makes it all the more despicable.
At its core, the ADA is a well-intentioned
law that AAHOA members and American
business owners support wholeheartedly. It
aims to eliminate discriminatory practices
on the basis of disability and allow everyone to patronize businesses and public
spaces. "Every man, woman and child with
a disability can now pass through onceclosed doors," President Bush declared
when the ADA took effect on July 26, 1990.
As leaders of the hospitality industry,
we must take action to protect our businesses so that all can have access, those
with disabilities and those without. We
must remain champions of the ADA while
also protecting the spirit of the law from
those who seek to abuse it for personal gain.
http://www.TODAYSHOTELIER.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Today's Hotelier - October 2016
Letter From the Chairman
Letter From the President & CEO
News Bytes
AAHOA Spotlight
Best Western’s New Frontier
Government Affairs
The Uneven Playing Field: Hotels & Airbnb
Finding Opportunity in the Old
Development & Renovation
Living Legends: Wisdom From Industry Trailblazers
Finance Q&A
The Latest Tech Tools for Hospitality
Guest Experience
AAHOA Events
AAHOA Founding Members
AAHOA Vendor Partners
Classifieds
Advertiser Index
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - cover1
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - cover2
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 3
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 4
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 5
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 6
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 7
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - Letter From the Chairman
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 9
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - Letter From the President & CEO
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 11
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - News Bytes
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 13
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - AAHOA Spotlight
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 15
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 16
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 17
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - Best Western’s New Frontier
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 19
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 20
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 21
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 22
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 23
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - Government Affairs
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 25
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 26
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 27
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 28
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 29
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - The Uneven Playing Field: Hotels & Airbnb
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 31
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 32
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 33
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 34
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 35
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - Development & Renovation
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 37
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 38
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 39
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 40
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 41
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - Living Legends: Wisdom From Industry Trailblazers
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 43
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 44
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 45
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 46
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 47
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 48
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 49
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - Finance Q&A
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 51
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 52
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 53
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - The Latest Tech Tools for Hospitality
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 55
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 56
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 57
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - Guest Experience
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 59
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 60
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 61
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - AAHOA Events
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 63
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - AAHOA Founding Members
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 65
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - AAHOA Vendor Partners
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 67
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 68
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 69
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 70
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 71
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 72
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 73
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 74
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 75
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 76
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - Classifieds
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 78
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 79
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 80
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 81
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 82
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 83
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 84
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 85
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - Advertiser Index
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - cover3
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - cover4
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - outsert1
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - outsert2
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 91
Today's Hotelier - October 2016 - 92
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0518
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0418
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0318
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0218
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0118
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM1217
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM1117
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM1017
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0917
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0817
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0717
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0617
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0517
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0417
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0317
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0217
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0117
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM1216
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM1116
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM1016
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0916
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0816
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0716
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0616
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0516
https://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/AAHOM/AAHOM0416
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com