The Department of Justice has postponed the “new” swimming pool accessibility requirements mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) yet again.  The decision was made to grant the hotel industry another eight months to comply with the regulations after much opposition and lobbying by the industry and their representatives in Washington.  The final date for implementation is now listed as January 31, 2013.

The Center for Disability Rights strongly opposed this extension.  The ADA was signed into law July 26, 1990 by George H.W. Bush.  That’s 22 years since the original legislation was enacted!  While the legislation has been updated and amended over the years, the original intent of the legislation has always been the prohibition of discrimination based on any medically determined disability by employers, government institutions, and commercial enterprises (such as hotels) since day one.

The US Department of Justice cited the Hotel industry and their lobbyists’ “confusion” and “misunderstandings” as the basis for additional postponement of the simple right to get into a swimming pool.  However, Best Western CEO David Kong said, “Everybody is committed to buying a portable pool lift. … The challenge is, why does it need to be permanent?”  That sounds a lot less like the hotel industry is confused about the requirements, and more like they are simply challenging the requirements of the law.

What other laws can we get law-enforcement to postpone or delay by simply expressing confusion?  “I’m sorry officer.  I thought speed limit 65 meant 65 was the lower boundary.  I was confused.  Can we delay enforcement of that law until I get that all figured out?”  Sounds absurd, doesn’t it?

Another justification for the delay has been a supposed concern about safety.  For instance, some hotel industry representatives say they are concerned that unattended lifts may be a hazard to unsupervised children.  Unsupervised children!?  What parent in their right mind would allow a small child to play in a pool area unattended?  Forget the exaggerated dangers of lift equipment, there is a very real danger of drowning.  Parents and hotel owners should have a lot more concern about the risk of drowning than any concerns about supposed dangers brought about by a lift to make the pool accessible.

The various concerns expressed by the hotel industry representatives are nothing more than foot dragging.  What is also crystal clear is that the industry has known about these specific requirements since at least March 2010.

The Americans with Disabilities Act has been on the books since 1990.  Here we are, 22 years later, trying to guarantee access to hotel swimming pools.   The Department of Justice and the hotel industry should be ashamed of themselves for further delaying the simple justice of being able to go swimming.