U.S Department of Justice and Washington State Parks resolve complaint over Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) violations

Press Release

State Parks will undertake program to identify and remediate paths, facilities, and structures that don't comply with ADA

Seattle - The U.S. Department of Justice and the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission (Washington State Parks) announced today that they have reached a settlement agreement to resolve a complaint that parks facilities fail to conform with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The original complaint concerned a camping area at Paradise Point State Park in southwest Washington. The complainant and his spouse reported non-conforming conditions at what was supposed to be a camping space for persons with disabilities. Deep ruts in the camping area resulted in injuries to the complainant, who has mobility issues. The settlement agreement sets the agency on a multi-year plan to identify and remediate ADA violations at all Washington State Parks.

"I am pleased that Washington State Parks leadership quickly realized that they need to act systematically on ADA compliance statewide," said U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. "Some of the work identifying non-conforming structures and paths had already been done by Washington State Parks. This agreement will ensure that access for those with disabilities is a factor that is addressed in all park projects going forward."

"At Washington State Parks, we believe that the outdoors are for everyone's enjoyment," said Washington State Parks Director Diana Dupuis. "We appreciate the collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice to help our visitors with accessibility needs better access state parks. The agency continues to make progress on increasing accessibility, with more work to come. We encourage anyone with accessibility requirements looking to visit a state park to learn more at our website, parks.wa.gov, or call our customer service team."

The ADA requires that structures or improvements to public facilities such as parks, which were constructed after 1992, meet certain requirements to allow access to people with disabilities. The investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office revealed that Washington State Parks does not have formal procedures for identifying and addressing maintenance of accessible features in parks. The agency also had no routine to ensure new construction and alterations satisfy the ADA.

Under the terms of the settlement, Washington State Parks has 90 days to propose new policies and procedures for maintaining accessible features and ensuring that new construction and alterations are ADA compliant. The policies will be implemented to provide for routine inspections to ensure ADA standards are being met.

Within one year, Washington State Parks will provide the U.S. Attorney's Office with a list of noncompliant buildings and facilities with a remediation plan and a timeline for making the facilities ADA compliant, with remediations to begin as soon as October 1, 2025.

The settlement also calls for Washington State Parks to establish ADA "grievance procedures" for those complaining about accessibility issues. Washington State Parks has an ADA Coordinator who will investigate any complaints and will respond. The coordinator will have the authority to request changes to address access issues.

Washington State Parks will post information about the ADA policies and coordinator on its website, and will log all inspections, complaints, and repairs of accessible features for review by the U.S. Attorney's Office. All Washington State Parks employees who are involved in planning, development or implementation of any new construction or alterations will be trained on the ADA program outlined in the settlement.

The terms of the settlement will last for 7 years, with reports to the U.S. Attorney's Office on progress every six months.

The settlement was negotiated by Assistant United States Attorney Susan Kas, Civil Rights Coordinator in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office. For more information on the Civil Rights Unit visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/civil-rights

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Updated September 5, 2024