Foreign cruise lines under disability law
By Greg Stohr
Bloomberg News Service
WASHINGTON — Cruise lines that operate in U.S. waters can be sued by passengers under a federal disabilities law, even if the ships are registered in another country, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday.
A divided court said the Americans with Disabilities Act requires those ships to make nonstructural accommodations, potentially by eliminating higher fares for accessible cabins and ensuring that all passengers can reach evacuation equipment. At the same time, the court said ships don't have to remove permanent physical barriers to wheelchairs and scooters.
The ruling is a step in the right direction, said Athena Cipriani, a travel consultant with Access Aloha Travel Inc., a Hawai'i-based travel agency specializing in the needs of the disabled.
"Anyone sailing in U.S. waters really ought to be under ADA law. It shouldn't be any more difficult for someone in a wheelchair or someone who is hard of hearing or even deaf to get around or go on vacation than it is for someone who is able-bodied."
The 6-3 ruling is a partial defeat for the industry and may open it up to more lawsuits, said Michael Crye, president of the International Council of Cruise Lines, a trade organization based in Arlington, Va.
The decision allows a lawsuit by Douglas Spector and Julia Hollenbeck, two disabled passengers who say Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line illegally discriminated on cruises that departed from Houston. The two claim they paid premiums to Norwegian Cruise Line for handicapped-accessible cabins.
"It's a significant but not absolute win for people with disabilities," said Thomas Goldstein, a Washington lawyer who argued the case for Spector and Hollenbeck. "Almost all of our claims are vindicated."
A lawyer for Norwegian did not return a message seeking comment. Norwegian has said in the past it welcomes disabled passengers and doesn't discriminate against them.
In Hawai'i, Norwegian has said its U.S.-flagged Pride of Aloha is ADA compliant, as will be two new U.S.-flagged ships the company plans to use in Hawai'i. Officials said the ships have wheelchair-accessible cabins, indicating-light systems for the hearing impaired and information in Braille. The ships also will have electrical hoists for pools and jacuzzis, officials.
In his opinion for the court, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said excluding foreign-flagged ships from the law covering U.S.-flagged ships "would be a harsh and unexpected interpretation of a statute designed to provide broad protection for the disabled."
Kennedy said the disabilities law doesn't apply to foreign vessels' "internal affairs," which he said include the ship's basic structure.
The 1990 disabilities law bars discrimination against the disabled in businesses open to the public. Lower courts had been split as to whether the law covered foreign-registered ships that travel in U.S. waters.
Crye said companies rarely impose any additional charges on disabled passengers.
"In general, it is the policy of the industry that there will be no surcharges." There may be some instances, such as when a passenger brings an assistance animal on board, when additional fees might be applied, he said.
Norwegian's lawyers said making the ADA apply to foreign-flagged ships would extend the law beyond U.S. territory in a way Congress didn't intend.
