Litigation
Aug. 4, 2000
UCLA Settles Wheelchair-Access Suit
Jonathan Punongbayan and his pal, Bill Choi, wanted to get as close as they could to the stars in UCLA's December 1998 celebrity basketball game.
Still angry a month later, Punongbayan and Choi took their complaint to the Western Law Center for Disability Rights. Now, thanks to the settlement of their class action over the incident, wheelchair users will not encounter the same problem. Punongbayan v. Regents of the University of California, BC221544.
"Their argument was that if there was a fire or an earthquake, the elevators would be shut down and there was no alternate exit access for wheelchair users on the arena level," said Eve Bell, the executive director of the law center. "If you take that argument out to its logical conclusion, however, it means that wheelchair users would never have access beyond the ground floor of any building."
She said pre-litigation attempts to convince the pavilion management to change their wheelchair access policy by informing them of methods used by emergency personnel to handle elevator-only access issues were not successful, but "after we filed suit and university counsel got involved, they settled very quickly."
The settlement agreement, approved by Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Bruce Mitchell in May, requires UCLA to ensure that wheelchair users have an equal opportunity to purchase lower-level seating at Pauley Pavilion and requires UCLA to make the arena level bathrooms and concession stands wheelchair accessible. In addition, the agreement calls for UCLA to pay $1,000 each to Punongbayan and Choi and to pay their attorney fees.
University Counsel Jeffrey Blair said his office never considered litigating Punongbayan's lawsuit because his office believed the refusal to sell Punongbayan an arena level ticket was merely a box office mistake. He said plans were then already in the works to make the arena level more wheelchair friendly.
"The case has been settled since it was filed," Blair said. "We put every bit of our time into ensuring that every bit of the alterations were accomplished."
Noting that the announcer for the women's volleyball team uses a wheelchair and has been accessing the arena level for years, he said the school's actual policy was to allow wheelchair users onto the arena level with a warning about the limited-access situation that might arise in an emergency.
Blair said the construction of a safety ramp to the arena level has been completed as part of the pavilion renovation.
"It is now safer for wheelchair users to use the arena level," he said, adding that the concessions and restrooms on the arena level will be renovated by the beginning of basketball season. "The settlement simply helped further UCLA's commitment to serving all segments of the community and to ensure that all areas of the campus are accessible to those with mobility impairment."
Ed Kimble
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