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Like Matthew I am not a lawyer but have several years experience with the
ADA.  For the last few years I have been invited to George Washington Law
University to make presentations to law students about the ADA.  Even so I
do not consider myself an expert on it.  I have yet to meet any lawyer
including the attorneys at the Department of Justice responsible for
enforcement who are truly experts in this area.  The problem is its
complexity.  Although Matthew has offered one of the best descriptions of
the ADA that I have read, I will offer my own thoughts on the subject.

Disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially
limits one or more of the major life activities such as caring for one’s
self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking,
breathing, learning and working.  Even so this definition is subject to
various court rulings, interpretations and amendments to the law.

The ADA divided into three separate titles: I, II, III.  These titles can be
thought of as three separate laws that apply to (I) Places of Employment,
(II) Public Entities, and (III) Public Accommodations.  There are both
similarities and differences between these titles.

Perhaps the major point of confusion is that Title I requires a "reasonable
accommodation" while Titles II and III require reasonable modifications in
policies, practices, or procedures, unless an entity can demonstrate that
making such modifications in policies, practices, or procedures, including
academic requirements in post secondary education, would fundamentally alter
the nature of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or
accommodations involved.

Plenty of additional confusion is created because the titles have appendices
that you may or may not be able to locate.  The titles are controlled by
U.S. Code Title 42 and various CFRs (Code of Federal Regulations).  The ADA
also refers to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  The National Labor Relations
Act can cause additional confusion as well as union liability issues.  There
are tons of court cases (District, Appellate, and the Supreme Court)
clarifying numerous issues.  There is also the Americans with Disabilities
Act Amendments Act of 2008 that seeks to remedy some of the bad decisions
made by various judges.  On top of all this you also have other legislative
initiatives such as the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) which controls not
only disability issues within a commercial aircraft but also various areas
of the terminal. (i.e. Where does the ACAA end and the ADA start?)

So what is one to do if seeking an answer to a specific question?  Frankly I
doubt that one would get a good answer unless they put in the time and
research that Matthew and I have done.  In all likelihood the building which
hosts an event is in compliance.  So I would not worry about that unless
there is an obvious problem.  Beyond that my recommendation is to just use
common sense.  For example: avoid chemical fumes, peanuts, perfume and most
of all tobacco smoke.  And, of course, follow Matthew's recommendations of
which I concur.

Jack Cannon 

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