Hotel Agrees to Settle Complaint
The Hotel Bel-Air has agreed to provide televisions with closed captioning and other devices for the hearing-impaired in a settlement reached Tuesday with the father of two deaf girls who could not watch a hotel television because it was not properly equipped, the U.S. Justice Department said.
The settlement resolves a complaint filed under the Americans With Disabilities Act, said the Justice Department, which represented the family.
“Deaf and hard-of-hearing guests deserve the same quality of services as other guests,” said Isabelle Katz Pinzler, acting assistant attorney general for civil rights. “By entering into this agreement, the Hotel Bel-Air has shown that it values all of its guests. We are pleased that it will take these steps to ensure equal treatment.”
A spokeswoman for the hotel declined to comment.
A board member of the Southern California Hotel and Motel Assn. said he doubted that the settlement would have a wide-ranging impact.
“It’s still a hazy issue and very ill-defined exactly what hotels are supposed to do,” said the board member, the general manager of a major Los Angeles hotel, who requested anonymity. “The newer televisions all have the closed captioning, so as hotels replace their old ones they are automatically complying with the guidelines.”
In December 1996, according to the complaint, Jay Crane and his family were visiting California from Columbus, Ohio. The father contacted hotel management after discovering that their television was not equipped with a closed-captioning device. The hotel never provided the family with the proper equipment.
Under the Federal Disabilities Act, hotels must provide effective communication for people with hearing disabilities, the Justice Department said. That includes televisions with captioning devices and visual alarms.
The Justice Department has reached more than 500 settlements under the act.
As a result of Tuesday’s settlement, the department said, the hotel has agreed to a number of provisions, including:
* Paying $5,000 to the family.
* Providing televisions with closed-captioning devices.
* Installing flashing smoke alarms and flashing lights on telephones and other equipment to alert deaf and hard-of-hearing guests to phone calls and visitors.
