A.Public Conveyance"Public conveyance" means any vehicle or any other means of transport operated on land, water or in the air, which in fact caters to, or offers its goods, facilities or services to, or solicits or accepts patronage from the general public. "Public conveyance" includes any person who is the owner, lessee, operator, proprietor, manager, superintendent, agent or employee or any public conveyance. As defined in 14553 (7) of the Act, "person" includes one or more individuals, partnerships associations, organizations, corporations, municipal corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, receivers and other legal representatives, and includes the State and all agencies thereof.
B.Accessible"Accessible" means able to be entered, exited, and used safely, efficiently, and as independently as possible by persons with physical or mental disabilities.
C.Separate Service"Separate service" means a conveyance that is available for the special use of persons with physical or mental disabilities and that uses vehicle(s) separate from the public conveyance available for use by all persons.
D.Bus"Bus" means intra-city or commuter transportation by bus or van which regularly serves the general public on a fixed route without restrictions on trip purpose.
E.Unlawful Discrimination(1) As in the Maine Human Rights Act, Title 5 M.R.S.A., §4551, et seq.(2) The Commission interprets the term, "unlawful public accommodations discrimination" as defined in the Act and as applied to discrimination on the basis of physical or mental disability in public conveyances, to encompass three concepts: (a) Overt Discrimination - an intentional, purposeful act of discrimination;(b) Unequal or Disparate Treatment - treating members of a protected class in a different and less favorable manner than members of the similarly situated group. Proof of discriminatory motive is required;(c) Disparate Impact - conduct which, although applied equally to all, has an adverse effect on members of a protected class as compared to the effect on members of the majority class; in other words, practices fair in form, but discriminatory in operation. intent or motive is of no consequence. See Griggs v. Duke Power Company, 401 U.S. 424, 915 S.Ct. 849, 3 FEP Cases 175 (1971).(3) A prima facie case of discrimination exists if the Complainant establishes that membership in a protected class, even though not the sole factor, was nonetheless a substantial factor motivating the conduct of the public conveyance. If the Complainant would not have been denied service or otherwise treated differently, but for membership in the protected class, the existence of other reasonable grounds for the action by the public conveyance does not relieve the public conveyance from liability. See Wells v. Franklin Broadcasting Corp., 403 A.2d 771, 20 FEP Cases 548 (1979).(4) Unlawful discrimination includes separation or segregation of persons with physical or mental disabilities, except where separate facilities or services are the only way to provide access to a public conveyance without imposing an undue burden on the operation of the public conveyance. See Part III (D) and (E).(5) Unlawful discrimination includes the failure or refusal by a public conveyance to make reasonable accommodations to a person's physical or mental limitations, Unless the public conveyance can demonstrate that a reasonable accommodation does not exist or that an accommodation would impose an undue burden on the operation of the public conveyance. C.M.R. 94, 348, ch. 5, pt. II