Edison Hotel Lacked Accessible Restrooms At Disability Event, AG Says

TRENTON, NJ — Complaints against the Crowne Plaza Edison Hotel that it failed to provide handicapped-accessible restrooms for people attending a spina bifida conference will be enforced by the Division on Civil Rights, State Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said on Wednesday.

The division's investigation found that the hotel's handicapped-accessible restroom on the first floor was under renovation for the conference, and conference goers were instead "escorted" to hotel room bathrooms, some of which were occupied by other guests, the attorney general's office said.

“It’s shocking to imagine that a venue hosting a conference for disability advocates would fail to provide an adequate wheelchair-accessible restroom to the attendees. In New Jersey, that’s against the law,” said Platkin. “Today’s enforcement actions show that we’ll hold accountable any business that denies persons with disabilities equal access to its facilities.”

The division has issued findings of probable cause in the two cases alleging the hotel violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. The matter now goes to conciliation, giving the parties an opportunity to negotiate a voluntary resolution, the state said.

Two complaints were filed by individuals who attended the conference sponsored by the Spina Bifida Resource Network, a nonprofit organization that serves and advocates on behalf of persons with spina bifida and other disabilities, the state said.

The Division on Civil Rights found sufficient evidence that the hotel failed to provide the reasonable accommodations necessary to allow conference attendees, many of whom used wheelchairs, equal access to the hotel’s restrooms - even though hotel staff knew that many of the conference attendees would use wheelchairs.

Before the conference, representatives of the Spina Bifida Resource Network notified hotel staff that the conference would be attended by several dozen people with wheelchairs.

In its investigation, the division found that the Crowne Plaza Edison Hotel failed to provide a wheelchair-accessible restroom on the first floor of the hotel, where the conference took place.

On the day of the conference, the lone wheelchair-accessible restroom on the first floor of the hotel was under renovation and unavailable to conference attendees.

The division found the hotel failed to make adequate alternative arrangements to ensure that conference attendees would be able to use a wheelchair-accessible restroom.

The hotel initially suggested that conference attendees use an inaccessible restroom on the first floor of the hotel. But the complaint alleged that the entrance to the stalls in that bathroom were too narrow for wheelchair users, and the division investigation found sufficient evidence to support that allegation.

"Ultimately, to access a wheelchair-accessible restroom, conference attendees had to be escorted by hotel staff to a limited number of locked private guest rooms on other floors of the hotel that had wheelchair-accessible restrooms. Some of the rooms to which conference attendees were taken were paid for and occupied by current hotel guests," Platkin's office said.

The division's investigation found that the use of locked private guest rooms on other floors of the hotel did not provide conference attendees equal access to the hotel’s facilities and that the hotel did not present evidence that providing an accessible public restroom would have placed an undue hardship on its operations.

The Law Against Discrimination prohibits places of public accommodation, including hotels, from discriminating on the basis of disability. Under the law, places of public accommodation are required to provide reasonable accommodations necessary to allow persons with disabilities equal access to the full benefits of its services, programs, or activities, unless doing so would be an undue burden on its operations, Platkin's office said.

“Far too often, people with disabilities face barriers that deny them equal access to the facilities and services provided by hotels, restaurants, and other public places. The facts of these cases serve as a painful reminder of how pervasive those barriers continue to be,” said Sundeep Iyer, Director of the Division on Civil Rights.

“The enforcement actions we are announcing today reinforce that employers, housing providers, and places of public accommodation must meet their legal obligations to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to their facilities,” Iyer said

The attorney general's office noted that the findings of probable cause are not a final ruling. Rather the findings mean the division has determined sufficient evidence exists to support a "reasonable suspicion" that the Law Against Discrimination has been violated.

The matter now goes to conciliation, giving the parties an opportunity to negotiate a voluntary resolution. If the parties are unable to reach a voluntary resolution, a Deputy Attorney General will be appointed to prosecute the matter either in Superior Court or in the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law, Platkin's office said.

People with disabilities who believe their rights under the LAD have been violated can file a complaint with DCR by visiting https://bias.njcivilrights.gov/ or calling 1-833-NJDCR4U (833-653-2748).