WHEELCHAIR USERS SUE LOCAL SHOPPING MALL AND NATIONAL RETAILER REGARDING EMERGENCY EVACUATION

From: WASHINGTON LAWYERS' COMMITTEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS & URBAN AFFAIRS - 27 Feb 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Elaine Gardner
202-319-1000 ext. 131
Linda Royster
Executive Director, DRC
(202) 234-7550 ext. 5
Steve Hollman
Hogan & Hartson L.L.P.
(202) 637-5672

WHEELCHAIR USERS SUE LOCAL SHOPPING MALL AND NATIONAL RETAILER REGARDING EMERGENCY EVACUATION

February 26, 2003 -- The Disability Rights Council of Greater Washington (DRC) and Katie Savage, an individual who uses a wheelchair, filed suit today in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland, against City Place Mall in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Marshalls, Inc., one of the anchor retailers at that mall. The lawsuit alleges that Ms. Savage was effectively imprisoned in the City Place shopping mall during a fire emergency that forced the evacuation of customers from the mall, and that no provision has been made for the safe evacuation of people with disabilities from either Marshalls or the mall.

The complaint is based on a frightening and disturbing event that occurred at City Place Mall on September 3, 2002, just a few days before the first year anniversary of September 11. That morning, Ms. Savage was shopping at Marshalls in the City Place Mall when a fire alarm was set off in the mall. Marshalls announced that all shoppers were required to leave the store due to an emergency, and Ms. Savage quickly made her way out of the store and into the mall interior. Panic began to spread throughout the mall as shoppers and staff fled amid rumors of a bomb. Ms. Savage, however, was trapped: Marshalls locked the gate that separated the store from the mall; the elevator was shut down; no emergency exits were accessible; and no one from the mall or Marshalls offered to assist in the evacuation of customers with disabilities. As a result, Ms. Savage was forced to wait in the mall for nearly an hour, listening to alarms and sirens and fearing for her life, until an announcement finally was made that the emergency was over and that the mall would re-open.

The complaint alleges that the ordeal Ms. Katie Savage endured never should have occurred. As owners and operators of places of public accommodations, defendants are obliged to accommodate disabled individuals in emergency evacuation plans in order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA). Accordingly, plaintiffs now bring this lawsuit to eradicate defendants? continuing discrimination and to validate the goals of the ADA by ensuring equality of opportunity and full participation for disabled individuals in the community.

"It is shocking that a major shopping mall and an important national retailer have not considered the needs of their patrons with disabilities when designing emergency evacuation procedures," stated Linda Royster, Executive Director of the DRC, in announcing this lawsuit. "Retailers must understand that providing safe emergency evacuation plans for people with disabilities is a basic requirement of the ADA." Ms. Savage is a resident of the District of Columbia who often shops at City Place Mall and Marshalls. The Disability Rights Council, or DRC, is a non-profit membership organization. Its members are persons with disabilities and others who are interested in equal rights, equal access and equal opportunity for persons with disabilities. The DRC pursues its principal goal - eliminating discrimination against individuals with disabilities - through various means such as public education, counseling, conciliation, litigation, and research, including investigations related to architectural barriers to access in public accommodations. The DRC has brought lawsuits against a number of major retail chains, and has arrived at comprehensive settlements to ensure access for people with disabilities.

The defendants, Dierman Realty Group, LLC and Petrie Dierman Kughn Metro Investors, LLC are owners and operators of the City Place Mall. Defendant Marshalls is one of the nation?s largest off-price family apparel and home fashions retailers, and operates a store at City Place Mall as well as over 575 stores nationwide.

The DRC and Ms. Savage are represented by Steven Hollman, Robert Duncan, Adam Levin, Jennifer Wigman and Jennifer Klar of the law firm of Hogan & Hartson, and Elaine Gardner of the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

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