Claiming Historic Status Does Not Relieve Inn of ADA Obligations

September 19, 2023

This blog is an update to “Being ‘Polite’ Does Not Ensure Access,” published on August 18, 2023.

After DREDF’s blog post entitled “Being ‘Polite’ Does Not Ensure Access” was published, the owner of the 1802 House Bed & Breakfast Inn—who is also the former owner of the hotel at issue in the upcoming Supreme Court case of Acheson Hotels LLC v. Laufer— added a banner to the Inn’s website stating “WE ARE NOT ADA COMPLIANT. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.” Later, a “Policies” page was added to the website, stating in relevant part:

“1802 House Bed and Breakfast is not able to provide accessible lodging since the establishment is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) or is designated as historic under State or local law (§ 36.405 Alterations: Historic preservation.). Thus, completing accessible alterations would destroy the historical significance of the property.”

Although these updates may technically satisfy the ADA’s “Reservation Rule” by telling potential visitors that the Inn is not accessible to disabled people and that no accessible features are provided, they also raise other concerns.

First, inaccessibility is not merely an “inconvenience.” Ensuring accessibility through compliance with ADA Standards is one of the most critical and uncompromising purposes of the ADA. Trivializing accessibility barriers and failing to comply with the ADA reflects ableism and signals to people with disabilities that they are unwelcome and do not belong. This, in turn, causes people with disabilities to experience significant dignitary harms, and to feel excluded from the mainstream and not in control of the decisions that affect their daily lives.[1]

Second, being listed on the National Register of Historic Places or designated as historic under State or local law does not completely exempt places of public accommodations like inns and hotels from compliance with the ADA. Read more on the ADA’s actual, limited, exceptions for qualified historic properties.

Finally, we visited the National Register of Historic Places and Maine’s Cultural & Architectural Resource Management Archive to fact-check the claim that 1802 House Bed and Breakfast is listed on the National Register of Historic Places or designated as historic under State or local law.

Surprise!  It’s not.

Again, being polite doesn’t work. Providing businesses with notice and an opportunity to do the right thing doesn’t work. The experience of people with disabilities over the 33 years since the ADA was passed has proven this to be true time and time again. Many places of public accommodation will do anything in their power—including misrepresenting a historic designation—to avoid complying with the ADA. This ongoing animus towards people with disabilities is the reason private enforcement of the ADA remains essential.

[1] See, e.g., Stacey Menzel Baker, Jonna Holland and Carol Kaufman- Scarborough, How Consumers with Disabilities Perceive “Welcome” in Retail Servicescapes: A Critical Incident Study, 23 J. of Serv. Marketing 160, 167-168 (2007).