Sec. 14.03.02.09. Public Accommodations Practices

A. Unlawful Practices in Public Accommodations Generally. An owner, operator, manager, or lessor of a place of public accommodation may not discriminate on the basis of disability against an individual in the full and equal enjoyment of goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations.

B. Unlawful Practices in Public Accommodations Specifically.

(1) Unlawful Denial of Participation. An owner, operator, manager, or lessor of a place of public accommodation may not deny an individual with a disability, directly or indirectly, or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements, the opportunity to participate in, or benefit from, a good, service, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation of a place of public accommodation.

(2) Unequal Participation. An owner, operator, manager, or lessor of a place of public accommodation may not deny an individual with a disability, directly or indirectly, or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements, the opportunity to participate in, or benefit from, a good, service, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation of a place of public accommodation that is equal to that afforded to an individual without a disability.

(3) Separate Benefit. A public accommodation may provide separate benefits for individuals with disabilities only if requiring that individuals with disabilities be provided the same benefits as provided to individuals without disabilities would in effect create a barrier to full accessibility for the individual with a disability.

(4) Examples of when a public accommodation is permitted to provide a separate benefit include, but are not limited to:

(a) An athletic club which may provide a separate basketball league for wheelchair users, because integrating wheelchair users with nondisabled persons in the same game would create a barrier to full accessibility for the wheelchair users; and

(b) A museum which may provide a separate benefit to blind visitors through a separate tour in which they touch objects because the general rule that prohibits touching would create a barrier to full accessibility for blind visitors.

(5) The example in §B(4)(b) of this regulation may not be construed to deny blind visitors the right to go on the standard tour observing the general rules applicable to all visitors.

(6) Eligibility Criteria. An owner, operator, manager, or lessor of a place of public accommodation may not impose, or apply eligibility criteria, that screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a disability from fully and equally participating in a good, service, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation, unless this criteria can be shown to be necessary for the provision of the good, service, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation.

(7) Surcharge. An owner, operator, manager, or lessor of a place of public accommodation may not impose a surcharge on an individual with a disability to cover the costs of complying with State Government Article, §§20-301—20-305, Annotated Code of Maryland.