Civil Litigation & Procedure - Causes of Action - Americans with Disabilities Act & Rehabilitation Act - Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania

Kramer v. Port Authority of Allegheny No. 2031 C.D. 2004 (June 7, 2005)

Holding: The Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 12131-12165) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794) prohibit public entities from excluding, denying access to or otherwise discriminating against any person because of a disability. As a result, public transit agencies must maintain features necessary to make vehicles readily accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities. To prove a claim under Title II of the ADA, a plaintiff must show that (1) he or she is a person with a qualified disability; (2) he or she was either excluded from or otherwise denied the benefit of a public entity’s services, programs or activities, or was otherwise discriminated against by the public entity ; and (3) the exclusion, denial of benefits or discrimination was be cause of plaintiff’s disability.