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From
The Lowell Sun in Massachusetts:
BOSTON -- Dino Theodore just wanted to cash a check.
So on May 27, the Dracut man, who is confined to a wheelchair, went to the Bank of America branch on Bridge Street in Lowell.
But in a federal lawsuit Theodore filed last week in U.S. District Court, he explained that there was a problem.
He saw two handicapped parking spots in a lot with 50 parking spaces. Neither space was sufficiently wide or marked appropriately for someone using a wheelchair.
"The area was dangerously sloped and he had difficulty in attempting to exit his vehicle and access the ramp into the bank building,'' according to the lawsuit.
Entry into the bank wasn't easy either.
The doors exceed the maximum amount of force for pushing a door open, according to the lawsuit. And once he was inside, the counters for writing out deposit slips exceed the maximum height of 36 inches. The night deposit door was completely out of reach.
He didn't even try the public bathroom.
It's been two decades since the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted and still Bank of America has "not made efforts required under the ADA to remove such barriers ...,'' wrote Theodore's lawyer Nicholas Guerrera.
Theodore, director of Access With Success Inc., a non-profit group that advocates for those with disabilities, claims that Bank of America designs, constructs and operates facilities that provide "separate, segregated and unequal access and services to customers who use wheelchairs and prevent or restrict access to ATMs and bank branches.''
The barriers include parking spaces that are not in the appropriate number, in accessible locations, or of accessible designs, as well as steps, curbs, ramps and door thresholds that impede or prevent access by people with mobility impairments.
Bank of America has one of the country's most extensive branch networks with 18,000 ATMs and more than 5,900 branch locations in 40 states, including 14 in the Lowell area.
Theodore also tried to use Bank of America facilities in Lawrence, North Andover, Andover, Georgetown, Haverhill, Merrimac, Salisbury, Amesbury and Worcester.
He found problems at each site, according to the lawsuit.
Bank of America spokesman William P. Halldin said, "We have just received the papers and can't comment on them. We follow all ADA requirements and address any concerns promptly.''
This isn't the first lawsuit Theodore has brought in the name of handicapped access.
He has sued the Radisson Hotel and Suites in Chelmsford, Massachusetts General Hospital, Demoulas Supermarkets, Surrey Hotel Management, LHG Hotel Management, AAA Merrimack Valley Inc., Winter Place, Linchris Hotel Corp., Sterling Suffolk Racecourse, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Newport Creamery, and Jennifer Convertibles, all to force compliance with the federal ADA.
From The Lowell Sun in Massachusetts:
