Terri Meagley v. City of Little Rock, No. 10-2932 (8th Cir. 2011)
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Plaintiff sued the City of Little Rock under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. 12133, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ("Rehabilitation Act"), 29 U.S.C. 794a(a)(2), when she was injured at the Little Rock Zoo where her rental scooter tipped over on an incline. At issue was whether plaintiffs may recover compensatory damages under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act without showing a "heightened standard" of intentional discrimination. Also at issue was whether the rental fee charged by the zoo for the scooter was an impermissible surcharge under applicable ADA regulations. Further at issue was whether the district court erred in concluding that plaintiff lacked standing to challenge the zoo's liability waiver imposed after her accident. The court affirmed the judgment and held that plaintiff was not entitled to recover compensatory damages where she failed to show intentional discrimination through proof of deliberate indifference or otherwise. The court also held that the surcharge was not illegal where the zoo was not "required" to provide scooters to disabled visitors. The court further held that plaintiff lacked standing to challenge the waiver of tort liability the zoo enacted after her injury where she failed to show an adequate injury in fact.
Court Description: Civil case - Americans with Disabilities Act. The Eighth Circuit joins every other circuit which has decided the issue and holds that in order to recover compensatory damages under either the ADA or the Rehabilitation Act, a plaintiff must establish that an agency's discrimination was intentional; the district court did not err in finding plaintiff failed to show intentional discrimination; zoo's scooter rentals were not intended to meet ADA requirements, being instead a convenience for all visitors, and the rental fee was not an impermissible surcharge under the ADA; plaintiff could not show an adequate injury in fact, and she lacked standing to challenge the waiver of tort liability the zoo enacted after her scooter accident.
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