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., ยง4551, 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.
