Rights Group Sues District Over Wheelchair Access

A civil rights group says the John A. Wilson Building, where Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and the D.C. Council have their offices, isn't adequately accessible to people with physical disabilities.

In a lawsuit filed yesterday in federal court, the Equal Rights Center claims that neither of the entrances intended for people in wheelchairs complies with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Built at the turn of the 20th century, the Wilson Building was renovated in the 1990s, and a number of steps were taken to improve wheelchair accessibility before it reopened in 2001. But the suit by the Equal Rights Center, which is part of the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, says the building falls short -- part of a pattern, the suit claims, of inaccessibility in city government buildings in the District.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages and court orders to force the city to act.

One wheelchair entrance, on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, is kept locked, the lawsuit says. To open it, a person must ring a bell, which summons a security officer, who in turn opens the door. But that can mean a long, unpleasant wait.

The other entrance, on D Street NW, has a mechanical lift to bypass the steps. But the lift can be operated only by a building employee, the lawsuit says. And inside the six-story building, the doors are too heavy to be opened by many disabled people, the lawsuit claims.

Robert Coward, a Northeast Washington man who heads an organization for people with disabilities, joined the lawsuit. When he has come to the Wilson Building to testify before the D.C. Council, he has been forced to wait long periods in the elements for a building worker to open the wheelchair-accessible entrance.

It is galling that the seat of city government hasn't acted despite repeated pleas from him and the Equal Rights Center, he said.

"That is . . . .where I go to as a citizen to get my voice heard," he said, adding that the barriers signal "that the District treats me as a third-class citizen."

John Salmen, a Takoma Park architect and consultant on ADA compliance, said that, if true, the deficiencies alleged in the lawsuit are legitimate claims. For example, he said, when mechanical lifts are permitted, usually only in older buildings that cannot be readily retrofitted, disabled people must be able to operate them without help.

Particularly when governments are juggling a lot of pressing needs, disability issues often slide to the back burner, Salmen said, and that is why advocates sometimes feel they have no choice but litigation.

Traci L. Hughes, spokeswoman for the D.C. attorney general, said she could not address specific claims in the lawsuit but said the city understands its obligations.

"The District government does take seriously the compliance of all its buildings with ADA requirements and will work to make certain that the city's buildings are accessible to those with disabilities," Hughes said.