Stores That Reopen Face ADA Compliance Puzzles

Walter OlsonAround much of the country retail stores and small businesses are struggling with how to reopen, or carry on operations online, consistent with public health recommendations on social distancing and protection of customers and workers. And as they do they find their task complicated in many ways by the requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and related state laws. So I conclude from anadvice column by Minh Vu and John Egan of the law firm Seyfarth Shaw. Some questions:*Can you make customers wait outside, and if so how? Under one format commonly approved for reopening, stores must close all but one entrance and have someone watch that entrance to make sure the number of customers does not exceed a given capacity. Once the maximum is reached, customers waiting for admittance need to stand outside in distanced lines. Unfortunately, under the ADA, if only one of multiple entrances is accessible, that one must be used, even if it ’s hard to watch, isn’t good for spacing people out, or is exposed to the rain. “Customers with physical disabilities who cannot stand for long periods may ask to go to the front of the line as a reasonable modification. Businesses may be reluctant to allow this as the claimed disability may not be obvious and the request may be fraudulent. ”*Can you take customers ’ temperatures before letting them in? Some big U.S. employers already use non ‐​contact forehead temperature guns to chec...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs