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07.29.2026
WASHINGTON – Today, Ms. Melissa Weiss, an employee at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (“MLK Library”), filed suit against the District of Columbia for its failure to make her workplace accessible to her. Her lawsuit comes only a few days after the 36th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Ms. Weiss, a digital navigator at MLK Library, has spastic cerebral palsy and uses a motorized wheelchair. For four years, the DC Public Library delayed and failed to install automatic door openers or adjust the tension on heavy doors to allow Weiss to safely navigate her workplace, in violation of Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the District of Columbia Human Rights Act.
“When I started at MLK Library in May 2022, I was literally surrounded by closed doors,” says Ms. Weiss. “Everywhere I looked, I saw that library leadership had not considered access for persons with disabilities, even in the recently renovated MLK Library. Before I could do my job, I had to advocate for myself so I could have equal access to my workplace and had to remind those in power of their legal obligations to people with disabilities. This lawsuit is happening because four years of advocacy, of reminding and requesting, of begging and pleading, have not been enough.”
The lawsuit has implications for the public, too. MLK Library houses the Center for Accessibility, a place within the DC Public Library system that is purportedly designed to provide equal access to library resources for patrons with disabilities as well as to educate the community through disability-related programming. When the library underwent a $211 million renovation project that included a rooftop terrace, a new entryway, conference and meeting rooms, and a redesigned Center for Accessibility, DC officials disregarded ADA standards by installing heavy doors that are inaccessible for Ms. Weiss and other library visitors.
Ms. Weiss is represented by Disability Rights DC at University Legal Services, Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, and Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP.
“Since the beginning of her employment, Ms. Weiss described navigating her workplace like a mouse navigating through a maze. She has been talked down to, ignored, and dismissed by DCPL leadership,” said Chloe Peeples, Staff Attorney at Disability Rights DC at University Legal Services. “Ms. Weiss has fearlessly advocated for herself and for library employees, patrons, and volunteers with disabilities for years. She’s been injured, her wheelchair has been damaged, and yet she kept showing up. It has taken an incredible amount of courage and resilience to not only educate DCPL leadership about the ADA, but to file this complaint and hold DCPL accountable.”
“This lawsuit reveals a series of striking ironies, each more alarming than the last,” said Kaitlin Banner, Deputy Legal Director at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. “Over several years, DC officials supervised an extensive, multimillion-dollar renovation of the library, yet failed to follow ADA requirements for door accessibility as they redesigned the Center for Accessibility itself. To make matters worse, when our client sought guidance on how to request reasonable accommodations, the ADA section in the DC Public Library Human Resources portal linked to a blank page.”
“Libraries are meant to be an equalizing space and should be open and accessible to everyone,” said Andrea Gordon, Partner at Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP. “Eversheds Sutherland is proud to stand with Ms. Weiss and our co-counsel to ensure the MLK Library lives up to the inclusive mission it was built to serve.”
Read the complaint here.
