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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Republican Party has agreed to make accommodations for people with disabilities at its meetings to settle a federal lawsuit two party members filed last year.
Aaron Heineman, who is deaf, and Eliza McIntosh Stauffer, who is paralyzed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair, sued the state and Utah County GOP, as well as Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox for allegedly violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In the settlement, the Utah GOP and Cox, who oversees state elections, acknowledged that ADA applies to political parties and committed to comply with the law at party meetings. The party also will include in its governing documents that ADA compliance is mandated.
Specifically, the Utah Republican Party agreed that there will be no standing votes without a reasonable accommodation at State Central Committee meetings, caucuses and conventions. (The party takes some votes by asking participants to stand up.) It will also hold ADA training for the 2020 election cycle, according to the agreement filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court.
In addition, the party agreed to pay attorneys for Heineman and Stauffer $15,000.
“This is an issue I’ve taken seriously because what we want more than anything is for more people to be involved in the process,” said Utah GOP Chairman Derek Brown.
Brown, who was elected chairman last year, said the party didn’t know institutionally how to accommodate people with disabilities. He said it amended its bylaws in September to ensure ADA compliance and has been training county party leaders to follow the law.
Political parties have always been subject to the law but the agreement makes that clear, he said.
Heineman had been told by a state GOP official that a sign language interpreter would be hired for a Utah County caucus meeting in 2016 where he was running to be a delegate, according to the lawsuit.
He was later told that the county had arranged for someone to assist him who had only “rudimentary” skills rather than being certified as an American Sign Language interpreter, the lawsuit said.
Related:
2 Republicans suing party claim accommodations not made for their disabilities
Two Republicans are suing both the state and Utah County GOP, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox and others in federal court, claiming they were discriminated against because accommodations weren't made for their disabilities at party meetings.Heineman, who the lawsuit indicates has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, lost his bid to become a delegate and later ran as an Independent American candidate for the 3rd Congressional District seat vacated by former Rep. Jason Chaffetz.
In Stauffer’s case, the lawsuit states that votes taken at the GOP’s 2016 state convention required delegates to stand up to be counted, despite objections from Stauffer and other delegates unable to do so.
She and others later held a protest at party headquarters.
The Utah GOP wants meeting participants to now provide a written request for accommodations seven days in advance, including information sufficient to determine how to best meet their needs.
