# Trash talk – ADA problems in the restroom.



## mark handler (Jul 30, 2015)

Trash talk – ADA problems in the restroom.

http://accessdefense.com/?p=2494

Kalani v. Starbucks Corp.,  2015 WL 846651, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 25, 2015), includes a warning about trash cans and restrooms.

In many older buildings, including those built after the ADA standards went into effect, restroom size is a serious problem. Because of plumbing issues restrooms are difficult to expand or move, and the location of the toilet and sink may be fixed for all practical purposes. When local codes permit it, turning two restrooms into a single unisex restroom may help, but in many cases restaurants and others with ADA restroom problems seek to comply by building the smallest permissible restroom.

The diagrams in the ADA Standards that suggest permissible restroom layouts generally show the toilet and sink; the two fixed items whose location determines whether the minimum clear space required by the ADA exists. They leave out something equally important — the trash can. Hence the problem. If you add a trash can to a space that is already as small as it can possibly be the resulting space may not comply with the ADA.

That was the finding of the district court in Kalani v. Starbucks.  The expert witness for Starbucks opined that the the trash can was not a barrier that interfered with the required clear space because it was moveable. The district court rejected this opinion based on its legal conclusion that an obstruction was permissible only if it was intended to be in place for a short time. The trash can was evidently a permanent feature of the restoom. The district court accepted, on the other hand, the opinion of the plaintiff’s expert that based on the size of the trashcan and size of the restroom:

“there is no location within the toiletroom where a free-standing trash receptacle can be located such that the clear floor space and/or maneuvering clearances will not be obstructed within the room.”

2015 WL 846651, at *11. This isn’t a surprising conclusion. If the space is already as small as it can be then anything in it will obstruct the clear floor space.

There are solutions, of course, including small trash receptacles inserted in the wall (just make sure they are not too high). The real take-away from this issue is that you can’t guarantee ADA compliance by simply following the relevant ADA design standards.


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## ADAguy (Jul 31, 2015)

First their serving counters were too high (class action we won) and now this.

They were previously warned and still didn't get it (smiling). Now they have got it.


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## MtnArch (Aug 2, 2015)

Saw this today on our way to a vacation spot.  Opened the door (opens out) to use the toilet and right inside the door on the hinge side is the 12"dia x 30"h trash can (didn't stop to measure it!) - no way to enter the room without moving the trash can out of the way.

Maybe ADA (and CBC for us Kalee-for-nee-a peeps) need to specify that trash cans must be wall-mounted.

Ain't no such thing as common sense any more ... otherwise we wouldn't be having these discussions!


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## mtlogcabin (Aug 3, 2015)

> Ain't no such thing as common sense any more


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## MASSDRIVER (Aug 3, 2015)

No discrimination there. Equal PITA for all.

Brent.


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## conarb (Aug 3, 2015)

We have to protect morons, I've heard that the birth rate of people on Medicaid has recently reached 50%, the last study I can find was 5 years ago when it reached 48%.

[QUOTE='George Washington University]They discovered that in 2010 Medicaid paid for 45 percent of all births in the United States, up from 43 percent of Medicaid covered births in 2008. That represents a 4 percent increase in the proportion of all births financed by Medicaid in just two years. - See more at: http://publichealth.gwu.edu/content/medicaid-pays-nearly-half-all-births-united-states#sthash.i1tskUb8.dpuf

[/QUOTE]Morons begetting morons, all protected by the ADA:

[QUOTE='EEOC] EEOC v. United Parcel Service (consent decree entered 2006)The Commission alleged that defendant failed to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee with epilepsy, bipolar disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and then discharged him because he was disabled.

The employee worked successfully as a loader/unloader for about a year, until UPS assigned him the additional duty of routing packages being loaded onto trucks. This function required him to remember zip codes, which he had difficulty doing because of learning problems caused by his impairments. He requested additional training and a transfer to a job that involved only unloading trucks, so he would not have to sort packages by zip code.

In response, UPS asked for medical information about the need for accommodation, which the employee’s doctor provided. UPS gave the employee additional training, but refused to transfer him because it determined, without clarifying information provided by his doctor, that he was not disabled. Following its progressive discipline policy, UPS fired the employee because he made too many mistakes sorting packages.

The consent decree resolving the case provided for payment of $110,000 to the employee, and enjoined UPS from disability discrimination at its Decatur, Illinois facility.¹

[/QUOTE]I guess we need more morons as building inspectors so we can achieve diversity, what the heck, if Harvard can admit morons and give them straight As I guess building departments can too.  BTW, better stop writing up us builders for forgetting to do things or we'll start claiming discrimination, what's harder to memorize, zip codes, or building codes?  We have reached distopia instead of utopia, instead of eugenics to advance civilization we have employed dysgenics to create a world of morons:

[QUOTE='Wikipedia]Much of the debate regarding dysgenics has been about a hypothesized decline in human intelligence due to lower fertility of the more intelligent. It is unclear how environmental factors may limit IQ differently in different populations. While there may be a correlation between IQ and fertility, it is unclear whether that would have any effect on intelligence over generations.²

[/QUOTE]As the famous Bard of Baltimore said in 1920:



> "As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." — H. L. Mencken


¹ http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/history/45th/ada20/ada_cases.cfm

² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysgenics


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