Extended Stay America Class Action Alleges Lack of ADA Rooms

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Extended Stay America from a guest who claims that the hotel chain doesn’t offer enough rooming options for those with disabilities.

Plaintiff Bartley M. Mullen, Jr. says that the hotel does not offer amenities that are the same for those without disabilities, which violates Title III of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). These options include the type of guest rooms and the number of beds.

The plaintiff has double, above-the-knee leg amputations and uses a wheelchair to move around. In the summer of 2019, Mullen says he attempted to book a room at a defendant’s hotel in Pittsburgh.

The plaintiff tried to book a guest room with a king-size bed and found out that Extended Stay America offers few options for accessible guest rooms at that hotel.

“Specifically, while Defendants offer guests without disabilities rooms with full size beds, multiple beds, and king sized beds, the only option for individuals with mobility disabilities are guest rooms with one queen sized bed,” the Extended Stay America class action lawsuit claims.

Also, Mullen alleges that he was not able to determine whether the purported accessible guest rooms met his needs because the defendants online reservation system has “limited generic descriptions” of the accessible features of the guest rooms.

In addition, the plaintiff claims that Extended Stay America does not offer individuals with disabilities with reservation service that is ADA compliant. This service will allow those with disabilities to determine whether the guest rooms meet the needs of those with disabilities.

“In failing to provide accessible rooms with the same options and amenities offered to guests without disabilities and ADA-compliant reservation services, Defendants have engaged in illegal discrimination, excluded and deterred individuals with disabilities from patronizing Defendants’ hotels, and denied individuals with disabilities full and equal access to the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations that Defendants offer to individuals without disabilities,” the Extended Stay America class action lawsuit alleges.

The plaintiff states that ADA regulations require hotels to supply a certain number of rooms and suites that are accessible to those with disabilities, which is determined on a sliding scale based on the total number of offered rooms.

The Extended Stay America class action lawsuit alleges that the plaintiff’s experiences with the online reservation system makes him “frustrated and deterred” due to the limited information available. 

Also, he claims that he was “further demoralized that he could not reserve the type of guest room he was seeking and that his only option for an accessible guest room was so limited,” the plaintiff states.

The Extended Stay America class action claims that nearly all of the defendants’ hotels do not provide enough accessible guest rooms in contrast to guest rooms available to those without disabilities. 

In fact, the plaintiff states that an investigation shows that other hotels owned by the defendant do not provide a range of accessible guest room options compared to those offered to other guests.

That said, “Despite Defendants’ demanding standards for all of their hotels, and the fact that Defendants oversee and inspect individual hotels on a regular basis and require those hotels to implement changes necessary to fix existing problems, Defendants continue to operate and permit their hotels to remain in violation of the ADA,” the Extended Stay America class action lawsuit claims.

Have you found that Extended Stay America does not offer comparable rooms for those who are disabled?  Leave a message in the comments section below.

The plaintiff is represented by R. Bruce Carlson, Kelly K. Iverson, and Bryan A. Fox of Carlson Lynch LLP.

The Extended Stay America Class Action Lawsuit is Bartley M. Mullen, Jr. v. Extended Stay America Inc., et al., Case No. 2:19-cv-01254-NR, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

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