KEVIN MCGUIRE, APPELLANT,
v.
PEABODY HOTEL GROUP, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Kevin McGuire appealed a Florida Commission on Human Relations decision dismissing his disability discrimination complaint for lack of jurisdiction. The First District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that the Commission has jurisdiction under the Florida Civil Rights Act to investigate allegations that a hotel denied equal access to its facilities and services based on disability.
The Commission has jurisdiction to investigate McGuire's complaint. The allegations relate to the provision of services and access to facilities under the Florida Civil Rights Act, not solely to facility design or construction under the federal ADA, and thus fall within the Commission's statutory authority to determine whether discriminatory practices occurred.
[1] A state commission has jurisdiction over claims of disability discrimination in places of public accommodation under the Florida Civil Rights Act, even if the alleged dis…
[2] The Florida Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of an…
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this chapter, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, national origin, sex, handicap, familial status, or religion.”
Establishes the substantive guarantee of equal access under Florida Civil Rights Act section 760.08
Previewing 1 of 2 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMcGuire made a reservation for a wheelchair-accessible room at the Peabody Orlando hotel. On June 14, 2010, when he arrived to check in, he found the …
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Disability Discrimination cases and more on FLexlaw
Kevin McGuire appeals from a final order of the Florida Commission on Human Relations dismissing for lack of jurisdiction his claim alleging disability discrimination. We review the Commission’s order de novo and reverse. See Dep’t of Revenue ex rel. Smith v. Selles, 47 So.3d 916 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010).
Mr. McGuire filed a complaint alleging disability discrimination. He had made a reservation to stay in a wheelchair-accessible room at the Peabody Orlando hotel, and alleged that when he arrived to check in on June 14, 2010, the registration counter was not accessible. He was shown three different rooms but alleged that none of them had an accessible bathroom, so he went to another hotel. The hotel filed a response to the Commission’s request for information.
In an Investigative Memorandum, the Commission found that the allegations in the complaint related to the design, construction, and accessibility of the hotel’s facilities under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), rather than to the provision of services under the Florida Civil Rights Act, and that the Commission did not have jurisdiction to enforce the ADA. The Commission issued a final order dismissing the complaint for lack of jurisdiction. This was error.
Section 760.08, Florida Statutes (2010), provides:
Discrimination in places of public accommodation. — All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this chapter, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, national origin, sex, handicap, familial status, or religion.
(Emphasis added.) Section 760.11(1), Florida Statutes (2010), authorizes any person who was aggrieved by a violation of the Florida Civil Rights Act, sections 760.01 through 760.11, to file a complaint with the Commission, which must then determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe that a discriminatory practice occurred. By section 760.06(5), Florida Statutes (2010), the legislature empowered the Commission to “receive, initiate, investigate, seek to conciliate, hold hearings on, and act upon complaints alleging any discriminatory practice” prohibited by the Act. These statutes give the Commission the jurisdiction to determine whether the hotel discriminated against Mr. McGuire by denying him the full and equal enjoyment of the hotel’s goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations guaranteed by section 760.08.
REVERSE and REMAND.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Vazquez v. Aristy, 47 So. 3d 916 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010)
- Dep't OF Revenue v. Ephraim Selles, 47 So. 3d 916 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010)