REPORT FROM THE U.S.—Just over 18 months after the deadline for the installation by hotels of fixed, or permanent, pool lifts under the Americans with Disabilities Act, there is the proverbial good news and bad news.

 

The good news is hotel operators have been diligently installing lifts over that time, sources said. Most major flags have put in the lifts with just a few outlying independent properties yet to install the pool lifts. The bad news is pool lifts have spawned an unforeseen and aggressive legal subculture of attorneys and plaintiffs who are bringing a barrage of lawsuits against hotel owners.

 

“Some people just use Google to look at your pool and see there’s no lift,” said Marty Orlick, chair of the ADA compliance and defense group at San Francisco law firm Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell. “Others call on the phone and ask. And if you don’t have one, they file a lawsuit.”

A half-dozen lawsuits have been filed in Santa Monica, California, by a single plaintiff, Orlick said.  To read the entire article, click here.