In the summer of 2007, Charles Glover was undergoing treatment for late-stage non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He and his wife, Sylvia, were in the process of adopting their two-year-old foster-child, C.G., who was born with HIV. The Glovers thought C.G. deserved extra fun and attention after a difficult few months, and so they reserved an RV campsite at Wales West RV Resort for the month of July. The Glovers also knew that Mr. Glover’s health was deteriorating and that this might be a last opportunity to spend real quality time with C.G. as a family.
A self-proclaimed family park and RV resort, Wales West seemed like the perfect location for the family. The resort’s attractions include a lake, indoor swimming pool, playgrounds, a community building, and a Welsh Victorian steam train that circles the park. C.G., like so many children his age, loved trains and swimming. Moreover, the RV resort was close enough to Mobile, Ala., which meant Mr. Glover could commute for continued cancer treatments and C.G. would be near his treating physicians if needed.
On July 1, 2007, the Glovers arrived at Wales West and, with their grown son’s assistance, set up camp in a location close to the lake and the community building, which housed the indoor pool, restrooms, and showers. Mr. Glover was still very weak from his recent hospitalization, and the convenient location ensured that he would have maximum opportunity to enjoy the facilities with C.G.
While checking in at the reservations office, Mrs. Glover engaged in a casual conversation with the Office Manager. In the course of the conversation, Mrs. Glover expressed that she wanted their stay to be special because both her husband and son had been sick, that her husband had cancer and that their son, C.G., has HIV. Mrs. Glover returned to the family’s RV and thought nothing further about the conversation.
Later that day, the RV resort manager approached the Glovers at their campsite and informed them that the resort’s owner would not allow C.G. to use the common facilities, including the showers and the indoor pool, unless and until the Glovers could provide a documented guarantee that C.G.’s HIV did not pose a threat to other guests. The Glovers attempted to explain to the resort manager that there was no legitimate basis for excluding C.G. from the resort’s facilities. But the resort manager remained firm that C.G. was not to use the common facilities, even though it had never before, and has never since, required or even asked a guest to provide medical documentation as a precondition to using the resort’s facilities.
The Glovers no longer felt welcome at Wales West, and decided to leave. Because Mr. Glover was too weak to disassemble the campsite that evening, Mrs. Glover received permission to stay at the resort until the following morning. The family stayed in their RV the rest of the day and left early the next morning.
After searching for much of the day, the Glovers settled at another campground, Rainbow Plantation, in Summerdale, Ala., Rainbow Plantation has neither a lake nor a steam train. While it has an outdoor pool for recreation (as opposed to the indoor pool at Wales West), Mr. Glover and C.G. both had mobility difficulties and the pool was too far away from their campsite for either to walk. The Glovers significantly shortened their planned month-long vacation. Mr. Glover died of cancer in May, 2008, shortly after providing deposition testimony regarding the incident.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division filed a lawsuit against Wales West LLC, alleging that it violated Title III of the ADA when it unlawfully denied full and equal services to C.G. and the Glovers because C.G. has HIV. In January 2010, the Department and Wales West reached a settlement under which Wales West agreed to pay $36,000 in damages to the Glover family and $10,000 to the United States as a civil penalty. Wales West also agreed to adopt nondiscrimination policies at its RV resort and will annually train all staff on these policies.
The Wales West case is one of the many cases that has broken down barriers to everyday life addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act, the anniversary of which we will celebrate later this month. The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation and telecommunications, as well as federal, state and local government programs. Enforcement of the ADA is a top priority for the Civil Rights Division.
To learn more about this landmark civil rights law and the Justice Department’s enforcement efforts, visit www.ada.gov or call the ADA Information Line to speak with an Accessibility Specialist (1-800-514-0301, v; 1-800-514-0383, TTY).
