DENVER -- It’s a battle over disability rights, and it’s happening inside a Denver scrap yard.
A man named Randy, who relies on a wheelchair to get around, contacted Denver7 after he says he was discriminated against at a self-service salvage company, LKQ Pick Your Part on Federal Boulevard.
“I told (the manager) I needed several cam shafts and he said it’s not a problem,” Randy, who considers himself an inventor and a tinkerer, told Denver7. “And then I told him, 'I can’t go back and pull the parts.' I said, 'do you have someone can pull the parts for me?' and that was it. I was kicked off the property.”
Denver7 went to LKQ and spoke to the manager off camera. He said that he doesn’t pull parts out of the yard for anyone, he doesn’t have the staff to do it, and that’s not how he runs his self-serve business. He added that LKQ is otherwise ADA compliant, but that he chose to not do business with Randy because of how he was acting.
In a cell phone video taken by Randy, the manager asks him to leave. Randy replies with “You are required to help the handicapped. It’s the law.” The manager responds with “I’m not required to pull your parts,” and goes on to say, “if you believe that that’s fine. Go get a court order that says that I have to pull your parts and I’ll pull your parts.”
“I needed help that’s all I asked for,” Randy said.
According to an attorney with Disability Law Colorado, businesses must make “reasonable accommodations” for people to access or take part in their business as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The exception would be if doing that would “fundamentally alter” what the business does. This case could fall into a gray area, and would likely have to be decided in court.
Denver7 has extensively covered ADA lawsuits, including many frivolous suits against businesses. To read more, click here.
Randy says he doesn’t plan on taking legal action.
