United States of America v. Hilton Worldwide Inc. - Consent Decree

BACKGROUND

1. The United States states that HWI is a “public accommodation” within the meaning of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12181(7)(A), and 28 C.F.R. §36.104. The United States states that HWI operates a system of more than 2,800 hotels throughout the United States under various trade and service names and marks including, inter alia, Hilton, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations, Homewood Suites by Hilton, the Waldorf Astoria, the Waldorf Astoria Collection, and Home2 Suites by Hilton. Hotels are places of public accommodation within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 12181(7)(A), defined as, “an inn, hotel, motel, or other place of lodging.” The United States states that HWI either owns or has entered into and maintains franchise license agreements with the hotel owners or the agents of the hotel owners of each facility that participates in the HWI franchise system.

2. The United States states that it has completed surveys of thirteen hotels over a period of three months among four HWI Brands: Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites.

3. The United States states that it has examined the HWI reservations website to determine whether an individual with a disability can reserve an accessible room using the internet reservations system.

4. The United States states that its investigation found, inter alia, that HWI failed to design and construct these hotels in compliance with the ADA, failed to provide accurate, reliable information about its accessible sleeping rooms and amenities throughout its reservations system, failed to disperse accessible rooms among the various classes of sleeping rooms accommodations, failed to provide the required number of accessible sleeping rooms and roll-in showers, failed to properly equip accessible rooms for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, failed to provide accessible signage, and failed to comply with the ADA Standards for Accessible Design, 28 C.F.R. Part 36, App. A for protruding objects. In sum, the United States states that these failures constitute a pattern or practice of discrimination and unlawful discrimination that raises an issue of general public importance. 42 U.S.C. § 12188(b)(1)(B)(i)-(ii).

5. The United States states that HWI’s failure to design and construct the thirteen hotels that it investigated and other Brand Hotels (as defined in Paragraph 13) to be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities violates Section 303(a)(1) of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. §12183(a)(1), and constitutes a pattern or practice of discrimination within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 12188(b)(1)(B)(ii) and 28 C.F.R. § 36.503(a).

6. The United States states that HWI’s failure to design and construct the thirteen hotels that it investigated and other Brand Hotels to be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities also constitutes unlawful discrimination that raises an issue of general public importance within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. §12188(b)(1)(B)(ii) and 28 C.F.R. §36.503(b).

7. The United States states that HWI owns and operates its own central reservations system, both web-based and telephonic, through Hilton Reservations Worldwide, L.L.C. (d/b/a Hilton Reservations & Customer Care), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HWI located in Carrolton, Texas. The Hilton Franchise Disclosure Document dated April 27, 2009, requires franchisees to participate in the central reservations system, and to give first priority to confirmed reservations made through the system. Individuals can reserve guest rooms at any Brand Hotel -- corporate-owned or owned through a corporate joint venture, managed, or franchised -- through their system.

8. The United States states that individuals with disabilities are unable to reserve accessible sleeping accommodations through the Hilton Reservations & Customer Care system, in violation of the requirements of section 302(a)(1) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12182(a)(1) including, but not limited to, the items set forth below:

(a) individuals with disabilities are unable to reserve, on-line, accessible sleeping accommodations with either a tub or a roll-in shower;

(b) individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing are unable to reserve, on-line, a guest room fitted with visual alarms;

(c) the on-line reservations system does not accurately reflect the inventory of accessible types of rooms and amenities available at each property, i.e., two bedded rooms, one bedded rooms, suites, or adjoining rooms;

(d) the telephone reservations system does not accurately reflect the inventory of accessible types of rooms and amenities available at each property, i.e., two bedded rooms, one bedded rooms, suites, or adjoining rooms; and

(e) individuals with disabilities who have made reservations for accessible sleeping accommodations, on-line or by telephone, upon arrival, are not provided with the accessible sleeping accommodations they reserved.

9. The United States states that by its substantial involvement in the design and construction of HWI-owned, HWI-managed, and HWI-franchised hotels, HWI fails to provide hotels that are readily accessible to or usable by individuals with disabilities, as required by section 303(a)(1) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12183(a)(1). The United States states that HWI fails in numerous respects to comply with the Department of Justice’s regulation implementing Title III of the ADA, 28 C.F.R. Part 36, including the ADA Standards. See 28 C.F.R. §§36.401, 36.406.

10. The United States states that HWI discriminates against individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of its goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations, in violation of Title III of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12182, and its implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. Part 36.

11. The United States states that in addition to constituting a pattern or practice of discrimination, the failures of HWI to make reasonable modifications to its policies, practices and procedures for individuals with disabilities constitute unlawful discrimination that raises an issue of general public importance within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. §12188(b)(1)(B)(ii) and 28 C.F.R. § 36.503(b).

12. HWI denies each and every statement contained in Paragraphs 1-11 above. HWI states that it owns a limited number of hotels outright, has an ownership interest in a limited number of additional hotels, manages some hotels pursuant to management agreements with hotel owners, and maintains franchise license agreements with the owners of most of the Brand Hotels. HWI denies that it has violated the ADA, or that it is in any way responsible for any purported non-compliance with the ADA in connection with hotels that it does not own or manage. HWI states that it neither owns nor operates, within the meaning of Title III of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12182(a), the vast majority of Brand Hotels. HWI specifically denies that it operates, within the meaning of Title III of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12182(a), any Franchised Hotels (as defined in Paragraph 13 below) for purposes of liability under 42 U.S.C. § 12182. HWI further states that its Reservations System (as defined in Paragraph 13 below) provides individuals with disabilities with ample opportunity to identify and reserve accessible rooms that are available at hotels within the Reservations System. HWI further denies that it failed to design and construct its hotels in accordance with the requirements of Title III of the ADA.