Purpose

1. To comply with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Disabled Persons Act, the U.S. Department of Justice's revised final regulations implementing the ADA, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, and other laws and regulations related to persons with disabilities. 
   
   
2. To ensure that service animals accompany patrons with disabilities in all areas of our properties where public access is normally allowed. 
   
   
3. To provide guidelines for staff on property to identify service animals when they encounter a dog in the course of their employment.

Policy

1. It is a policy at all of our properties that persons with disabilities will not be discriminated against and that they will have full and equal access, services, and treatment
   
   
2. All patrons accompanied by a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a disabled person must be permitted to enter all areas of the hotel that is open to the general public. 
   
   
3. All property staff shall use minimal inquiry when the work, service, or tasks performed by the dog are not obvious and apparent. 

Individual with a Disability

  A person/individual who:

1. Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities;
2. Has a record of such an impairment; or
3. Is perceived by others as having such an impairment

Service Animal

Only dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities qualify as service animals. Service animals recognize and respond to needs.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

1. Guiding vision impaired
2. Alerting hearing impaired
3. Pulling wheelchair
4. Retrieving items
5. Stability and ambulation
6. Alerting or protecting a person having a seizure
7. Reminding a person to take medication
8. Calming a person with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 
9. Preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behavior 
10. Removing disoriented individuals from dangerous situations

Comfort/Emotional Support Dogs

1. Federal Law (ADA) - Dogs that solely provide companionship, comfort, and emotional support are not service animals under the ADA.
    
   1. Companionship, comfort, and emotional support do not constitute work or tasks.
      
      
2. California Law - Under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing may investigate denials of accommodation for access to public entities regarding comfort/emotional support dogs. 
   
   
   1. Denying accommodation of a comfort/emotional support dog in a public entity may result in a complaint to the Department of Fair Housing and Employment for violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act.

Direct Threat

A significant risk of substantial harm to the health or safety of others that cannot be eliminated or mitigated by a reasonable modification of practices or procedures or the provision of auxiliary aids or services. 

Staff at all properties must complete an individualized assessment when determining whether the service animal poses a direct thread based upon:

1. A reasonable judgment that relies on current medical knowledge or on the best available objective evidence. [Judgement]
2. The nature, duration, and severity of the risk; [Risk]
3. The probability that the potential injury will actually occur; and [Injury]
4. Whether reasonable modification of policies, practices, procedures, or provisions of auxiliary aids or services will mitigate the risk.[Mitigation]

Fundamental Alteration

A change that is so significant that it alters the nature of the facility or service offered.

Overview

1. Permitting Service Animals
2. Excluding / Removing Service Animals
3. Staff Inquiry
4. Staff Must Not
5. Requirements for Service Animals
6. Legitimate Reasons for Removing the Service Animal
7. Miniature Horses (MH)

1

Permitting Service Animals - Service animals shall be permitted in all areas of the property that are open to the public, provided the service animal does not:

1. Pose a direct threat; or
2. Fundamentally alter the property's operations, policies, practices, or procedures.

2

Excluding / Removing Service Animals - Any decision to exclude service animals from the property shall be made only after an individualized assessment that the animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others which cannot be mitigated by modifications of policies or procedures or the provision of auxiliary aids or services. 

1. The individualized assessment of direct threat shall be conducted by the manager or the most senior employee on duty at the time.
2. The individualized assessment of direct threat must be based on:
   1. Reasonable judgment that relies on current medical knowledge or on the best available objective evidence to ascertain:
   2. The nature, duration, and severity of the risk; 
   3. The probability that the potential injury will actually occur; and
   4. Whether reasonable modifications of policies, practices or procedures, or provisions of auxiliary aids or services will mitigate the risk.

3

Staff Inquiry - When it is not obvious or apparent what service, task, or work the dog performs, staff may ask two questions only:

1. Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? And
2. What work or task has the dog been trained to perform? 
   1. Under the ADA, staff must rely upon the patron's word and that the dog is a service animal and the description of the service, task, or work it performs.
   2. Staff must utilize the chain of command if there is concern that the service animal poses a direct threat or would fundamentally alter the property's services provided.

4

Staff Must Not:

1. Ask about the nature or extent of the person's disability;
2. Require documentation to support service animal status (i.e. ID card, proof of certification and training);
3. Ask the dog to demonstrate the ability to perform service, task, or work;
4. Refuse access based upon allergies and fear of dogs;
5. Treat patrons with services animals less favorably;
6. Pet the service animal (may distract from assigned tasks);
7. Feed, a clean, toilet, or care for the service animal; 
8. Ask patron to remove the service animal from premises, unless an individualized assessment of direct threat has been completed.

5

Requirements for Service Animals - Service animals must be under the handler's control at all times via at least one of the following:

1. Harness
2. Leash
3. Tether
4. Voice control
5. Motion / signal control
6. Other effective controls
7. Exception- The devices listed above need not be used if they:
   1. Interfere with the service animal's work; or 
   2. A person's disability prevents using these devices

6

Legitimate Reasons for Removing the Service Animal

1. The dog poses a direct threat to the health or safety of patrons and/or staff that cannot be eliminated by a reasonable modification of the property's policies, practices, or procedures or the provision of auxiliary services; 
2. The dog fundamentally alters the nature of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations that the property provides to the public;
3. The dog is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it; 
   1. Disruption (barking, running, jumping);
   2. Aggressive behavior (biting, lunging); 
4. The dog is not housebroken
5. The dog has poor hygiene
6. The dog is ill.

7

Miniature Horses (MH)

1. Under the ADA, a miniature horse must be accommodated as a service animal here reasonable and if individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities 
2. The hotel manager or the most senior employee on duty at the time on the property must complete an individualized assessment to determine whether the service animal can be accommodated. The four (4) assessment factors are:
   1. Whether the MH is housebroken;
   2. Whether the MH is under the oner or handler's control;
   3. Whether the facility can accommodate the service animal's type, size, and weight; and
   4. Whether the MH's presence will not compromise legitimate safety requirements necessary for safe operations.