Wheelchair Access to UCLA Arena Focus of Suit

Claiming to have been “humiliated” at a UCLA basketball game last year, two Los Angeles men on Monday filed a lawsuit alleging that the wheelchair seating policy at Pauley Pavilion violates the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.

John Punongbayan, who uses a wheelchair, and Bill Choi, who does not, filed the suit, claiming the school violated their civil rights during a celebrity basketball game last December by refusing to sell them tickets to the arena level.

Instead, they said, Pauley Pavilion officials would only sell them tickets to the more remote concourse level, explaining that it was safer for wheelchair users.

That policy apparently violates the federal law, which calls for all public buildings to be accessible to people with disabilities, said Eve Hill, executive director of the Western Law Center for Disability Rights. The center is handling the case, which it has filed as a class action.

The lawsuit seeks to force UCLA to change its policy and demands damages of $1,000 for every person in a wheelchair who was denied access to prime areas of Pauley Pavilion. Hill said the total could be “in the millions of dollars.”

Patricia Jasper, UCLA campus counsel, said she could not comment on the lawsuit because she had not seen it.

But Jasper added that it is UCLA’s contention that Pauley Pavilion meets all the requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

She said not all areas of the building have to be accessible, because the pavilion was built more more than 30 years ago and has not undergone substantial renovations. As long as fans in wheelchairs are able to attend sporting events, the arena satisfies the federal law, she said.

Despite that, Jasper added that university officials are “reviewing what might be able to be done for the arena level to make it safe for wheelchair access.”