The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey recently announced a settlement with Academy Express LLC after the charter bus company was accused of failing to accommodate a 74-year-old disabled war veteran.

Academy has agreed to implement policies and procedures to ensure that persons with disabilities receive accessible transportation on the day and at the time and place requested, publish on its website a statement of that policy, and provide mandatory employee training on the American with Disabilities Act in accordance with regulatory requirements, according to the Feb. 6 release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Academy also is to pay a $10,000 civil penalty to the government and $10,000 in damages to the veteran, the office said.

U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said in the release that his office "remains resolute in its commitment to honor those sacrifices and ensure that the rights of service members and veterans be respected.

"Through our enforcement of the ADA, we will continue to protect veterans and other individuals with disabilities from unequal and unfair treatment," Carpenito said.

Joseph Ferrara, the attorney for Hoboken-based Academy Express, was not available for comment.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor Williamson of the office's Civil Rights Unit handled the case for the government.

The complaint alleged that the charter bus company failed to fulfill requirements under the ADA when it denied the veteran, who is a paraplegic and not identified by name in the release, access to a bus with a working wheelchair lift or a replacement bus with a working lift, to attend a group outing. The veteran sought to join dozens of his fellow combat unit veterans on an Academy charter bus for a multiday "Honor Flight" tour of Arlington National Cemetery and other Washington, D.C., area sites.

Although the group's organizer had requested, over a month in advance, that at least one of Academy's charter buses for the tour have a working wheelchair lift to accommodate the veteran, no such buses were made available for him, according to the complaint.

The veteran was a staff sergeant in the Army's 189th Assault Helicopter Company, and served in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969. He became a paraplegic after his helicopter was gunned down in Vietnam, according to the complaint. The office said he suffers from combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder and "was separated from his comrades for the Arlington trip and endured lengthy, embarrassing, and unsuccessful attempts to board him on an inaccessible bus."

The office said that if a request is made within 48 hours of a trip, a bus operator must make a reasonable effort to provide a wheelchair lift for the passenger and must also establish a system of regular and frequent maintenance checks of wheelchair lifts to determine if they are operative.

The charter company should also train its employees in the proper operation and maintenance of such equipment, according to ADA standards.

Academy is to address all three areas in the settlement, the office said.

The ADA turns 30 this year, noted Carpenito.