DENVER – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that it resolved a claim of discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act against Canopy Airport Parking and its parent company, ProPark, Inc.
Canopy Parking operates a 4,500-space parking lot near the Denver International Airport. As part of its airport-parking service, Canopy provides a shuttle service to the airport. A complaint was filed with the U.S. Attorney’s Office against Canopy by a customer who uses a wheelchair because of a disability. The complainant and his wife alleged that in December 2018, Canopy was unable to provide wheelchair-accessible shuttle service from its parking lot to the Denver International Airport. The complainant had called and e-mailed ahead. Canopy represented that a wheelchair-accessible shuttle would be available. But when the complainant and his wife arrived at Canopy, they discovered that the only wheelchair-accessible shuttle had been out of service for weeks. The couple had to park elsewhere and risked missing their flight as a result of Canopy’s failure to ensure wheelchair-accessible shuttle service. The complainant alleged that Canopy violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. That Act requires companies to ensure equal access to transportation services for customers who use wheelchairs.
To resolve the complaint, Canopy agreed to pay $2,000 in compensatory damages to the complainant. Canopy also agreed to buy two wheelchair-accessible shuttles, develop a plan to ensure that customers who use wheelchairs would be provided with the same service as other customers, train its employees, and adopt other policies and procedures to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Companies that provide transportation for their customers must serve individuals with disabilities equally, including customers who use wheelchairs,” said U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan. “We are pleased that Canopy has agreed to acquire wheelchair-accessible vehicles and to implement policies and procedures to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.”
Canopy’s parent company, Propark, is headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut.
This case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zeyen Wu.