A federal judge has found an Arapahoe County hotel to be in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and ordered its operator to make accessibility improvements, following the company’s unusual move of agreeing with all of the allegations against it.

Equally unusual, plaintiffs John Meggs and the Florida-based advocacy group Access–4–All balked when the hotel offered to identify and remove barriers to access within 12 months, in line with what the lawsuit requested.

Meggs is a California resident who uses a wheelchair. He has filed more than 100 lawsuits in federal courts nationwide, including at least four dozen in Colorado, after encountering what he described as repeated architectural barriers in public accommodations.

He alleged that he stayed at the Comfort Suites Denver Tech Center in Englewood in September 2021 and the property was “littered with” ADA violations – specifically, accessible parking spaces had excessive slopes, ramps lacked hand railings, counter heights were beyond the proper limits, dining tables were not wheelchair accessible and restrooms lacked proper clearance.

“Seemingly trivial architectural features such as parking spaces, ramps, and door handles are taken for granted by the non-disabled but, when implemented improperly, are cumbersome, arduous and even dangerous for him and other wheelchair users,” wrote attorney Jon G. Shadinger Jr. for the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit asked for a court declaration that defendant Colorado Hospitality Group, LLC was in violation of the ADA and an order for the company to undertake “all readily achievable alterations” to make the Comfort Suites usable by those with disabilities. Plaintiffs also asked to be compensated for attorney fees and costs.

The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in public accommodations and other settings. Title III of the law requires modifications that are readily achievable, meaning they are easily accomplished without much difficulty or expense. Widening doors, installing ramps and repositioning paper towel dispensers in bathrooms fall into that category, according to government regulations.

Colorado Hospitality Group, in response to the lawsuit, offered to identify and remove such barriers to access within 12 months at the hotel. When the plaintiffs failed to accept the offer, the company admitted to each allegation contained in the lawsuit and asked U.S. District Court Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer to give the plaintiffs what they wanted, within reason.

Meggs and Access-4-All, however, continued to push back against the hotel’s concessions, arguing its promise to fix accessibility issues was too vague.

“Plaintiffs’ complaint contains a list of specific barriers that Mr. Meggs encountered at the defendant’s property, the defendant now admits that those barriers exist and is currently in violation of the ADA, but cannot clearly articulate which of those barriers, if any, it will remediate during the proposed timeframe,” Shadinger wrote.

“Plaintiffs are like the dog that caught the car,” responded Lindsay G. Leavitt on behalf of Colorado Hospitality Group. “Serial ADA plaintiffs want private settlements and quick payouts, not injunctive relief and judicial scrutiny.”

In a June 2 order, Brimmer noted the hotel had agreed to essentially everything the plaintiffs asked for. If the offer to fix barriers to access was vague, it was because the plaintiffs “never asked in their complaint for defendant to describe precisely what construction projects or repairs it will take to come into compliance with the ADA,” Brimmer wrote.

He concluded the Comfort Suites was in violation of Title III of the ADA and ordered the hotel to make reasonably-achievable structural modifications and policy changes to ensure no guests with disabilities are excluded from hotel facilities.

The case is Meggs et al. v. Colorado Hospitality Group, LLC.