Mannick v. Kaiser Found. Health Plan, Inc.

ADA

Mannick v. Kaiser Found. Health Plan, Inc., No.
C 03-5905 PJH (N.D. Cal. June 9, 2006)

A disabled patient brought a suit
against a hospital, alleging various violations of federal and state disability
and antidiscrimination laws. The patient asserted the hospital discriminated
against him by failing to provide a wheelchair-accessible bathroom or shower.
In his complaint, the patient argued the hospital engaged in a number of construction
projects sufficient in scope to constitute an "alteration" under
the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") and, therefore, the hospital
had violated the Act by not reconfiguring its accessibility for the disabled
during such projects.

The hospital responded that compliance with the ADA standards was not required
for public buildings built prior to the Act’s passage unless changes were "readily
achievable." Moreover, construction in one portion of the facility did
not automatically make the entire facility subject to ADA standards. The United
States District Court for the Northern District of California agreed with the
hospital. The court held that the hospital was a preexisting facility and that
the alterations made to other parts of the facility did not trigger an obligation
to provide an accessible patient room because a fully accessible room was not "readily
achievable."