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What Are Public Accommodations Under the ADA?

If you are a disabled person and are filing a lawsuit to enforce your rights, then you will likely be filing a lawsuit under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to Public Accommodations. Therefore, in order to bring a lawsuit under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Defendant must own or operate a “public accommodation.”

In order to find out the definition of a public accommodation, you must look to the Code of Federal Regulations.

Section 28 CFR §36.104, defines a "public accommodation" as “a private entity that owns, leases (or leases to), or operates “a place of public accommodation”".

A place of "public accommodation" is a “facility” operated by a private entity whose operations affect commerce and fall within at least one of the following categories:

  • (1) Place of lodging, except for an establishment located within a facility that contains not more than five rooms for rent or hire and that actually is occupied by the proprietor of the establishment as the residence of the proprietor;
  • (2) A restaurant, bar, or other establishment serving food or drink;
  • (3) A motion picture house, theater, concert hall, stadium, or other place of exhibition or entertainment;
  • (4) An auditorium, convention center, lecture hall, or other place of public gathering;
  • (5) A bakery, grocery store, clothing store, hardware store, shopping center, or other sales or rental establishment;
  • (6) A laundromat, dry-cleaner, bank, barber shop, beauty shop, travel service, shoe repair service, funeral parlor, gas station, office of an accountant or lawyer, pharmacy, insurance office, professional office of a health care provider, hospital, or other service establishment;
  • (7) A terminal, depot, or other station used for specified public transportation;
  • (8) A museum, library, gallery, or other place of public display or collection;
  • (9) A park, zoo, amusement park, or other place of recreation;
  • (10) A nursery, elementary, secondary, undergraduate, or postgraduate private school, or other place of education;
  • (11) A day care center, senior citizen center, homeless shelter, food bank, adoption agency, or other social service center establishment; and
  • (12) A gymnasium, health spa, bowling alley, golf course, or other place of exercise or recreation.

In addition, the term “facility” means all or any portion of buildings, structures, sites, complexes, equipment, rolling stock or other conveyances, roads, walks, passageways, parking lots, or other real or personal property, including the site where the building, property, structure, or equipment is located.

Although the definitions under the Code of Federal Regulations may seem confusing, or complex, essentially, all they are saying is:

When suing under the Title III of the ADA, you are suing Defendants that own or operate private businesses, open to the public, to ensure that the exterior and interior of their property is accessible.

Therefore, as long as you are suing a private business that is open to the public for an architectural barrier, you will likely be covered by Title III of the ADA.

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(c)Malakauskas Law, APC. Attorney Advertisement. This website shall not be construed as legal advice and is for informational purposes only. Each and every case is different and requires an attorney to examine the specific case in question to arrive at an adequate legal conclusion. Consult with your own personal attorney for more information on the subject matters.

These blogposts shall not be constituted as legal advice and are for informational purposes only. Each and every case is different and requires an attorney to examine the specific case in question to arrive at an adequate legal conclusion. In addition, these blogposts are not updated, or edited, after the date of their initial post, and as such, the information contained within them may be outdated. Consult with your own personal attorney for more information on the subject matters.