Sheila A. Mahoney in Policy Review, September/October 1996:

Karla Hauk and her husband and business partner, Richard Hauk, opened a 32-room Days Inn franchise in Wall, South Dakota. That was on July 1, 1994, about six months after the Americans with Disabilities Act went into effect. They thought they were ready: Following their franchiser-approved plans, they made two of their 32 rooms accessible to handicapped patrons and made the entrance of their motel accessible to wheelchairs. When they opened their doors, they became the first hotel in Wall to provide rooms with accommodations for the handicapped.

Their reward? Karla, Richard, their architect, their contractor, and their franchiser are all being sued by the U.S. Justice Department for failure to comply with ADA regulations. They are charged with "unlawful discrimination" toward individuals with disabilities.

It all started with a whirlpool. According to the Justice Department's suit, the Hauks' two-story motel became a three-story facility when they installed a whirlpool in the basement. ADA regulations require that their motel have an elevator so that handicapped customers can reach every floor, as well as a ramp leading to the whirlpool. According to Karla Hauk, installing the elevator alone would cost more than $100,000, not including the increase in property taxes. Even if the owners removed the whirlpool and left the basement empty, they would still be required to build an elevator for handicapped access, because the Justice Department has declared the basement "occupiable space." In addition to the elevator, the ADA requires the Hauks to widen all of the bathroom doors in the non-handicapped rooms. "If someone who uses a wheelchair ... visits another guest in a non-accessible guest room, he or she will not be able even to enter the bathroom in that room," according to the suit....

Karla Hauk says ... if they had known then what they know now, they never would have built the motel. "We wish to God we never had. They will bankrupt us."

†