[nagdu] Article: Taxi Ruling could set new standard for city services

[Steven Johnson]

Although at first this may not appear to be service-dog related, please keep
in mind that ADA Title III and those provisions under this title also
include service dogs.

 

The following article is forwarded to you by the Great Lakes ADA Center
(www.adagreatlakes.org) for your information:

 

Thomson Reuters News and Insights

January 20, 2012

 

Taxi ruling could set new standard for city services

Reporting By Basil Katz

When a federal judge last month ruled that New York violated federal laws
because it lacked wheelchair-accessible taxis, disabilities advocates
celebrated a major victory.

The December opinion by Manhattan federal judge George Daniels may have set
a new standard for what kind of municipal services in New York and other
cities fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Since every city is organized in a different way, it is difficult to name
specific services or agencies that would be affected. But applied broadly,
Judge Daniels' taxi ruling could be applied to other city agencies that are
active regulators, said Robert Dinerstein, a professor at American
University's law school.

In his December opinion, Judge Daniels found that New York City's taxi
authority violated Title II, section A of the ADA because the authority has
an active regulatory role in maintaining and overseeing the taxi fleet --
thus acting as a public entity proving a public service.

By finding that the taxi authority qualified as performing a public service,
Dinerstein said, the judge potentially expanded the definition of what
constitutes a public service by a city agency or policy for purposes of the
ADA.

The decision could have ramification beyond New York because it recognizes
that licensing of medallions is considered a program or activity of a public
entity, he said.

"While you could say that not every city does the licensing of taxis the way
New York does, it certainly could be analogized to other situations where a
city agency is either regulating what's going on or, like here, where you
could not legitimately run a taxi unless you went through the process,"
Dinerstein said.

This week, the judge upheld that opinion, and denied a motion by New York's
Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) to freeze his order. The city has also
filed a notice of appeal with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Daniels ordered New York City to create a plan to improve access and --
pending his approval of such a plan -- required that any new taxis added to
the fleet be wheelchair accessible.

The ruling is likely to cause an additional headache for lawmakers in Albany
who have been hashing out legislation to address the New York taxi issue.

In his at-times indignant opinion, Daniels said the TLC's policies
discriminated against the handicapped and cited the fact that only 232 of
the city's 13,237 cabs are wheelchair-accessible.

"The TLC's exercise of its regulatory authority alone has created the
discriminatory effects on disabled riders who require the use of
wheelchairs," Daniels wrote.

The TLC disputed that interpretation and maintains it is not subject to the
ADA, and that its role is more limited to acts such as dispensing taxi
medallions.

"We respectfully disagree with the court's decision because the ADA
specifically exempts taxicabs from having to be wheelchair accessible,"
Robin Binder, of the New York City Law Department, said in a statement. She
said the city is "considering the next steps to take in court in light of
this ruling."

 

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT GETS INVOLVED

The New York case was also notable because of the involvement of the U.S.
Justice Department, which intervened against the TLC in October.

It is an illustration of how the Justice Department under the Obama
administration has been aggressively pushing an expansion of the ADA in
federal court, said Samuel Bagenstos, a professor at the University of
Michigan Law School and the former U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General
for Civil Rights. "It's a strategy that extends beyond taxi cabs and
transportation issues to the entire sweep of the ADA," he said.

The case is Christopher Noel et al v. New York City Taxi and Limousine
Commission et al, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York,
No. 11-00237.

 

Source:
http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Legal/News/2012/01_-_January/Taxi_r
uling_could_set_new_standard_for_city_services/