National daycare provider settles Americans with Disability Act violation

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Learning Care Group, Inc. (LCG) paid a civil penalty of $50,000 to the United States, $12,000 in compensatory damages to an individual complainant, and agreed to additional remedial actions to settle allegations that LCG, by and through a La Petite Academy located in Chesapeake (La Petite Academy-Taylor Road), violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

LCG operates a nationwide network of more than 1,150 schools, and under eleven brands: La Petite Academy, Inc.; Childtime; Tutor Time; The Children's Courtyard; Everbrook Academy; Montessori Unlimited; AppleTree & Gilden Woods; U-GRO; Creative Kids Learning Center; Young School; and Pathways Learning Academy.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia opened an investigation after receiving a complaint alleging that La Petite Academy-Taylor Road refused to enroll the complainant's child in their afterschool program because of the child's mobility disability and associated use of a wheelchair. As part of the investigation of this complaint, the U.S. Department of Justice's Fair Housing Testing Program conducted testing, which refers to the use of individuals who, without any intent to patronize a particular place of public accommodation or partake in a given service, make inquiries at that place for the purpose of gathering information.

As a result of the investigation, the United States alleged that LCG, by and through La Petite Academy-Taylor Road, violated the ADA by discriminating against the complainant and the complainant's child by denying the child the opportunity to participate in and benefit from La Petite Academy-Taylor Road's services because the child required the use of a wheelchair due to a mobility disability.

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and the U.S. Department of Justice's Fair Housing Testing Program and Disability Rights Section.

The matter was investigated by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Tannenbaum.

For more information on the ADA, visit www.ada.gov or call the Department of Justice's toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 (Voice) or (833) 610-1264 (TTY). Accessibility specialists are available to answer questions from individuals, businesses, and state or local governments. All calls are confidential.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.