Averts federal trial

From the Detroit News:

The University of Michigan has agreed to add more wheelchair seating throughout its football stadium, averting a trial in federal court.

The largest stadium in the country, Michigan Stadium can seat more than 107,000 fans but has only 176 wheelchair seating areas. All are located in the end zones.

The Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America, which brought a lawsuit against the university, had claimed that 1 percent of all seating or more than 1,000 spaces needed to be wheelchair accessible to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The U.S. Justice Department joined the suit on behalf of the veterans when U-M failed to reach an agreement on stadium design with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

Under the consent decree signed with the U.S. government on Monday, the total number of wheelchair seats will be 329 by the 2010 season.

Leaders at colleges and disability groups around the country have been watching the case closely because its outcome could have broad implications on scores of old stadiums.

See also:  Lawsuit settlement results in Big House temporarily giving up title of biggest stadium

This entry was posted on Monday, March 10th, 2008 at 2:22 pm and is filed under ADA, NOT2BEMISSED, accessibility, college, exercise/sports, post-secondary education, veterans, wheelchair. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post