Potbelly Restaurants Will Be Handicapped Accessible
posted 3:32 pm Wed November 21, 2007 - Washington
The decision comes after a lawsuit was brought by Rosemary Ciotti, who uses a wheelchair, and the Equal Rights Center (ERC), a non-profit civil rights organization, who claimed that Potbelly's ordering stations were too high for Ciotti to use and that their tables were not accommodating for people who use wheelchairs. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), new places of public accommodation, including restaurants, must be "readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities." Potbelly is committeed to making its ordering stations are ADA compliant in all of its new restaurants and retrofit all existing restaurants so that people in wheelchairs and shorter people in stature will be able to see the menu and speak to the staff person behind the counter.
"We appreciate that Potbelly will make their ordering stations more accessible," said Ciotti. "I think it will certainly make people with disabilities feel more welcomed in the restaurant, and I hope that other restaurants will follow Potbelly's example."
Potbelly Sandwich Works is a privately owned company headquartered in Chicago. It operates restaurants in over 170 locations in 11 states, including D.C., Virginia and Maryland.Not a member yet? Click Here to sign up.
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