Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
The Justice Department today announced a settlement and proposed consent decree with the Chicago Cubs to resolve alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) at Wrigley Field.
“The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that sports venues like Wrigley Field be accessible to people with disabilities,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities have full and equal access to public accommodations, including our ballparks.”
“As a result of this settlement, baseball fans with physical disabilities will have vastly improved options at Wrigley Field — on par with those available to all other patrons,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual for the Northern District of Illinois. “The Chicago Cubs are to be commended for working collaboratively with our office to find solutions, demonstrating their commitment to providing accessibility for people with disabilities.”
The department filed a lawsuit in 2022 against the Cubs, alleging that the organization’s renovation and reconstruction of Wrigley Field — a multi-year undertaking known as “the 1060 Project” — discriminated against individuals with disabilities. The lawsuit alleged, among other things, that the Cubs failed to provide wheelchair users with adequate sightlines as compared to standing patrons and failed to incorporate wheelchair seating into premium clubs and group seating areas.
Under the settlement, the Cubs will make numerous remediations to ensure accessibility for people with disabilities, including by removing noncompliant wheelchair spaces and companion seats and replacing them with wheelchair spaces that have significantly improved views of the field and fully compliant sightlines. The remediations will take place in every area of the stadium, including incorporating wheelchair spaces and companion seats into premium club areas at the front of the grandstand that will, for the first time, provide some front-row access for fans in wheelchairs. The Cubs have also agreed to modify protruding objects along circulation paths within Wrigley Field and ensure that certain parking and shuttle services outside the stadium are compliant. All Cubs employees and contractors whose job responsibilities involve contact with patrons with disabilities will receive training on the settlement before each of the next three baseball seasons.
The settlement and proposed consent decree have been submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for final approval. Over the next several years, the Cubs will submit to the United States written reports detailing their compliance with certain obligations in the consent decree. The United States may review compliance with the consent decree, including by inspecting Wrigley Field, at any time during the next three years.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abraham J. Souza and Patrick W. Johnson for the Northern District of Illinois handled the case.
For more information regarding the Justice Department’s efforts to combat discrimination in public accommodations, please visit the ADA’s government website.