Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice entered into a settlement agreement with Amtrak to resolve cases of disability discrimination by the railway operator that amounted to violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The agreement requires Amtrak to bring inaccessible stations into compliance with the ADA, to provide ADA training to staff, to establish a process for accepting ADA complaints, and to pay $2.25 million to victims hurt by the inaccessibility at the 78 stations noted in the agreement.
To be eligible for monetary compensation in this settlement, an individual must:
- Have a mobility disability;
- Be harmed physically or emotionally because of accessibility issues, including, for example, inaccessible parking; steep slopes or steps to get to the station; lack of directional signs; toilet rooms with inaccessible entrances, stalls, or sinks; high ticket counters; deteriorated platforms; and narrow routes at stations, at one or more the stations involved in the settlement between July 27, 2013, and Dec. 2, 2020;
- Have lived at, visited, or desired to visit a place closer to one or more of the applicable stations than an accessible, alternative Amtrak station; and
- Submit a claim form and declaration by mail, fax, email or online to the claims administrator by no later than May 29, 2021.
Essentially, what this means is that if you have a mobility disability, traveled to any of the 78 stations involved in this case and encountered an accessibility barrier that caused you difficulty or distress, you are eligible to be a part of this settlement class and collect compensation from the settlement fund. You may also be eligible if you wanted to travel to one of the listed stations, but were unable due to a lack of accessibility.
The 78 stations involved in the settlement agreement are listed below in alphabetical order, grouped first by state.
- Tuscaloosa, Alabama
- Yuma, Arizona
- Fort Morgan, Colorado
- Glenwood Springs, Colorado
- Granby, Colorado
- Old Saybrook, Connecticut
- Windsor, Connecticut
- Windsor Locks, Connecticut
- Newark, Delaware
- Gainesville, Georgia
- Jesup, Georgia
- Toccoa, Georgia
- Centralia, Illinois
- Effingham, Illinois
- Gilman, Illinois
- Homewood, Illinois
- Mattoon, Illinois
- Plano, Illinois
- Princeton, Illinois
- Rantoul, Illinois
- Summit, Illinois
- Connersville, Indiana
- Crawfordsville, Indiana
- Elkhart, Indiana
- Hammond-Whiting, Indiana
- Waterloo, Indiana
- Burlington, Iowa
- Creston, Iowa
- Mount Pleasant, Iowa
- Newton, Kansas
- Topeka, Kansas
- Maysville, Kentucky
- South Shore-South Portsmouth, Kentucky
- Lake Charles, Louisiana
- Aberdeen, Maryland
- Cumberland, Maryland
- Niles, Michigan
- Detroit Lakes, Minnesota
- St. Cloud, Minnesota
- Staples, Minnesota
- Picayune, Mississippi
- Kirkwood, Missouri
- La Plata, Missouri
- Poplar Bluff, Missouri
- Cut Bank, Montana
- East Glacier Park, Montana
- Malta, Montana
- Holdrege, Nebraska
- Elko, Nevada
- Hudson, New York
- Plattsburgh, New York
- Port Henry, New York
- Devils Lake, North Dakota
- Coatesville, Pennsylvania
- Downingtown, Pennsylvania
- Johnstown, Pennsylvania
- Lewistown, Pennsylvania
- Parkesburg, Pennsylvania
- Westerly, Rhode Island
- Dillon, South Carolina
- Alpine, Texas
- Marshall, Texas
- McGregor, Texas
- Helper, Utah
- Castleton, Vermont
- Montpelier, Vermont
- Ashland, Virginia
- Clifton Forge, Virginia
- Petersburg, Virginia
- Richmond Staples Mill Road, Virginia
- Bingen-White Salmon, Washington
- Kelso-Longview, Washington
- Wishram, Washington
- Charleston, West Virginia
- Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
- Hinton, West Virginia
- Columbus, Wisconsin
- Tomah, Wisconsin
If you have questions about your eligibility or need help in completing the required forms, you may contact the settlement administrator using the information below:
- Online: AmtrakDisabilitySettlement.com
- Email: info@AmtrakDisabilitySettlement.com
- Telephone (toll-free): 1-888-334-6165
- TTY Telephone (toll-free): 1-866-411-6976
The required claim form must be submitted or postmarked no later than May 29, 2021. The claim form can be completed online at the settlement website (AmtrakDisabilitySettlement.com). For alternate methods of submitting the form, contact the settlement administrator using the information above.
To access the complete settlement agreement in a PDF file, click here. To read the original Justice Department press release from which this article was compiled, click here.
