U.S. Attorney's Office reaches settlement with NDSU over accessibility complaints at the SHAC
FARGO — A settlement has been reached over violations of federal anti-discrimination law at North Dakota State University’s premiere multi-sport arena.
U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley announced on Wednesday, Jan. 29, that his office had entered a settlement agreement with NDSU over accessibility complaints at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex, or SHAC.
Complaints alleged the facility’s design features violate the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or ADA — landmark civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination based on disability.
In March 2019, The Forum published a letter to the editor from Tammy DeSautel of Fargo, who said staff at the SHAC denied her request for a chair to sit alongside her daughter during a high school basketball tournament.
DeSautel’s daughter, Macy Stuart, has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair, and needs someone near her at all times.
“I feel that it’s not asking for too much. And bottom line, it’s the law,” DeSautel previously told The Forum.
Under the current configuration, a companion of any wheelchair patron on the floor of the SHAC must sit in the row of seats directly behind.
Macy Stuart is pictured in a wheelchair seating area in the Sanford Health Athletic Complex at North Dakota State University on March 2, 2019. Her mother, Tammy DeSautel, requested a chair to sit next to her daughter but was refused. Instead, DeSautel sat on the edge of the metal bleachers so she could be closer to attend to her daughter's needs. Special to The Forum
Macy Stuart is pictured in a wheelchair seating area in the Sanford Health Athletic Complex at North Dakota State University on March 2, 2019. Her mother, Tammy DeSautel, requested a chair to sit next to her daughter but was refused. Instead, DeSautel sat on the edge of the metal bleachers so she could be closer to attend to her daughter's needs. Special to The Forum
The U.S. Attorney's Office had already begun its investigation into possible ADA violations at the facility, in the spring of 2017, after receiving other complaints.
The SHAC opened in 2016, as an extension and renovation of the former Bison Sports Arena, originally built in 1970.
The problems relate to a wide range of issues, including wheelchair seating, accessible parking and access to restrooms and concession stands, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
It found the SHAC did not provide sufficient wheelchair seating, seating for companions to users of wheelchairs or accessible aisle seating.
It also found the accessible seating provided was not integrated and dispersed throughout the facility, and that the SHAC didn't provide adequate accessible parking, and the toilet rooms, signage, concession stands, ramps, drinking fountains, and assistive listening devices did not comply with the ADA’s requirements.
Under the settlement agreement, NDSU will remedy all of the noted violations of the ADA by Dec. 31, 2020.
“North Dakota State University cooperated throughout this investigation and I commend its commitment to take swift remedial action to address all ADA violations when these barriers to accessibility were brought to its attention," Wrigley said.