Justices Extend Disabled Act to Cruises

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June 7, 2005 latimes.com THE NATION

Justices Extend Disabled Act to Cruises

By G. Savage, Times Staff Writer

Foreign ships sailing from U.S. ports can't charge higher fares or

provide a lower level of service, a split Supreme Court says.

WASHINGTON — Foreign cruise ships operating from U.S. ports may not

discriminate against disabled passengers, the Supreme Court ruled

Monday.

The 5-4 decision holds that the Americans with Disabilities Act

applies to foreign-flagged cruise ships and bars them from charging

higher fares to disabled passengers.

More than 7 million passengers annually board these " floating

resorts " at U.S. ports, the court noted. And though Americans make up

the majority of those who travel aboard cruise ships, most of the

vessels fly foreign flags.

The ruling was a victory for Spector, a Houston man who uses

a wheelchair. He sued Norwegian Cruise Lines, a Bermuda corporation

whose principal place of business is Miami and whose ships fly the

flag of the Bahamas, where they are registered.

Spector alleged that he was charged more for a cabin than other

passengers. He also said he was dismayed to learn he did not have

access to restaurants, swimming pools and other shipboard amenities

because of physical barriers. His suit was dismissed before trial by

the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans, and he appealed.

" With this decision, the Supreme Court has told the cruise lines that

we are entitled to what every other passenger receives…. The cruise

lines aggressively market themselves as American and accessible, and

maybe now, they will truly become just that, " Spector said in a

statement issued by his lawyers.

The 1990 law says disabled persons are entitled to the " full and

equal enjoyment of public accommodations " and public transportation.

Where possible, the law requires that barriers to disabled persons be

eliminated in hotels, restaurants, buses and airplanes.

Although Congress did not say whether the law extended to cruise

ships, the court's majority said it assumed lawmakers meant for its

antidiscrimination rules to apply to ships operating in U.S. waters.

" To hold there is no [antidiscrimination] protection for disabled

persons who seek to use the amenities of foreign cruise ships would

be a harsh and unexpected interpretation of a statute designed to

provide broad protection for the disabled, " Justice M.

Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion in Spector vs. Norwegian Cruise

Lines.

Passengers may not be charged higher fares or given second-class

treatment because of their disability, he said. However, ship owners

need not undertake a major redesign of older ships to accommodate

disabled persons, he added. Rather, they should make modifications

that are " readily achievable. "

Justices s, H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and

G. Breyer joined Kennedy's opinion.

Justice Antonin Scalia dissented, saying that foreign ships should

not be required to modify their rules to comply with U.S. law. Chief

Justice H. Rehnquist and Justices Day O'Connor and

Clarence joined in dissent.

Monday's ruling is likely to revive several other related lawsuits.

Dorene Giacopini, a special-education mediator from Contra Costa

County, sued Los Angeles-based Crystal Cruises alleging that she was

unable to move around the ship in her wheelchair on a cruise to

Alaska. However, a federal judge had dismissed her claim, citing the

ruling by the appeals court in New Orleans.