FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
May 22, 2007
Disability Rights Advocates
Kevin M.
Knestrick – (510) 665-8644
Sid Wolinsky – (510) 665-8644
Public Justice
Deborah Mathis – (202)
797-8600, ext. 246
Victoria Ni – (510) 622-8150, ext. 204
HOTELS.COM SUED FOR DISCRIMINATION AGAINST
THOUSANDS OF DISABLED TRAVELERS
OAKLAND, Calif. – Hotels.com, one of the world’s largest online travel
agencies, is discriminating against people with disabilities by refusing to
guarantee reservations for wheelchair-accessible rooms, according to a
California class action lawsuit filed today. The lawsuit is one of the
first of its kind in the country. Because of the substantial size of the
California market, the case has national implications.
The complaint, filed in the California Superior Court for Alameda County,
seeks to enjoin hotels.com from continued violation of the state’s civil
rights laws. No damages are being sought. Plaintiffs in this landmark case
are represented by the public interest law firms Disability Rights Advocates
(DRA) and Public Justice (formerly Trial Lawyers for Public Justice), and
Chavez & Gertler LLP, a leading class action law firm in Mill Valley,
Calif.
“I want to be able to reserve hotel accommodations online at hotels.com just
like anyone else,” says plaintiff Bonnie Lewkowicz. “It would be unwise and
potentially dangerous for me to rely on a hotel reservation service that
does not guarantee the hotel room I am booking is accessible to someone in a
wheelchair. Accessibility isn’t a preference for me – it’s a necessity.”
Hotels.com grossed $2.3 billion in 2006. It bills itself as a “one stop
shopping source for hotel prices, amenities and availability” and claims to
offer the “Lowest Rates – Guaranteed.” The hotels.com website does not
allow an individual to search for rooms accessible to the mobility impaired,
does not define what qualifies a room as accessible, and does not uniformly
report on the accessibility features which may or may not be offered.
More importantly, hotels.com will not guarantee that a wheelchair-accessible
room will in fact be available. Instead, it treats accessibility as an
optional “amenity”, like a king-sized bed. Individuals with disabilities
cannot find out whether an accessible room is available until after they
travel to their destination and then check-in at the hotel.
“The failure to guarantee accessible hotel rooms means that a person in a
wheelchair who pays for a room through hotels.com literally might not be
able to enter the room after they arrive at the hotel,” said Kevin Knestrick,
attorney with DRA, a non-profit law center based in Berkeley, Calif., that
specializes in high-impact lawsuits on behalf of people with disabilities.
“Hotels.com is excluding people with mobility disabilities from its
services. This is hostility to disabled and elderly people, not
hospitality.”
Studies show that 69 percent of adults with disabilities in the U.S. (more
than 21 million people) traveled at least once in the past two years, and 52
percent (about 16 million people) stayed in hotels, motels, or inns during
that time.
Lewkowicz and co-plaintiff Judith Smith are both members of the AXIS Dance
Company, a not-for-profit troupe of disabled and non-disabled dancers based
in Oakland, Calif. AXIS regularly tours throughout California and the
nation. Ms. Smith and Ms. Lewkowicz need accessible hotel accommodations
when traveling because they rely on wheelchairs for mobility.
Wheelchairs require large doorways and disabled travelers usually need grab
bars and accessible bathrooms. Without such features, many cannot stay in a
hotel room. Currently, virtually all hotels in California are required to
maintain accessible hotel rooms for the use of patrons with disabilities.
“Disabled travelers are effectively denied access to hotel.com’s discounted
rates and convenient side-by-side comparisons of available rooms,” explains
Victoria Ni of Public Justice, a national public interest law firm
specializing in cutting-edge litigation. “As a result, disabled travelers
have to spend extra time and money just to secure a workable hotel
reservation.”
In 2006, American online consumer travel sales generated $79 billion. For
American travelers, the Internet is an indispensable tool as both a resource
for planning trips and as a booking agent. Adults with disabilities spend
over $10 billion annually on travel, and almost half of them consult the
Internet to support their disability-related travel needs.
“It’s unfortunate that hotels.com doesn’t care about people with
disabilities,” says Smith. “We felt it was important to the entire
community of people with disabilities to seek the protection of the court.”
The full complaint in the case is posted on the Public Justice website at
www.publicjustice.net .
# # #
FACT SHEET: Smith, et al. v.
Hotels.com, LP
Case Information
Case Name: Smith, et al. v. Hotels.com, LP
Court: Superior Court of California, County of Alameda
Date filed: May 22, 2007
Case Type: Class Action lawsuit for injunctive and declaratory
relief only (no damages)
Claims: Unruh Civil
Rights Act (Cal. Civ. Code §§ 51 & 54) and Unfair Competition Law (Cal. Bus.
and Prof. Code § 17200, et seq.)
Plaintiffs: Judith Smith,
Bonnie Lewkowicz, and AXIS Dance Company, on behalf of themselves and all
others similarly situated
Defendant: hotels.com, LP
Plaintiffs’ Attorneys:
Disability Rights Advocates (www.dralegal.org)
is a non-profit law center dedicated to protecting the civil rights of
people with all types of disabilities, and is located in Berkeley, Calif.
DRA advocates for disability rights through high-impact litigation, as well
as research and education, including mobility, hearing, vision, learning and
psychological disabilities.
Public Justice (formerly Trial Lawyers for
Public Justice) (www.publicjustice.net)
is America’s public interest law firm, handling a broader range of
high-impact, cutting edge litigation than any public interest firm in the
nation. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has an office in
Oakland, Calif.
Chavez & Gertler, LLP (www.chavezgertler.com)
is an award winning, nationally known, and A-V rated law firm located just
north of San Francisco in Mill Valley, Calif. The firm's seven attorneys
represent plaintiffs in class actions and have been responsible for some of
the largest recoveries ever achieved in consumer cases in California.
AXIS is a traveling dance troupe based in Oakland, Calif.
AXIS members include both disabled and non-disabled performers.
Bonnie Lewkowicz is a resident of Alameda County,
California. She is physically disabled and depends on a wheelchair for
mobility. Ms. Lewkowicz is also a founding member of and performer with AXIS.
