Should Chipotle Lower Their Counters?

Posted By
Lynda Chung

In a decision that came down a few days ago, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Chipotle Mexican Grill violated the Americans with Disabilities Act because its food preparation counters were too high for for wheelchair-bound customers, meaning that such customers could see the food on display or how it was assembled. (Antoninetti v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (2010) 2010 DJDAR 11537.)

Both the disabled plaintiff and Chipotle agreed that all, except for the tallest wheelchair-bound persons, could not see the food preparation counter or the food on display, such as salsa, guacamole, cheese, lettuce and tortilla. The Ninth Circuit found that Chipotle's 45-inch tall wall violated federal regulations which require that a main counter height not exceed 36 inches.

While I sympathyze for the plaintiff for not being able to see the food preparation, I wonder whether there were reasons why the counter in the restaurant was 45-inch tall. Perhaps that was the optimal height for the average-height employee assembling food while standing. Maybe federal regulations should not apply to this scenario as lowering the counter may create problems for the workers who are on their feet all day wrapping burritos.