ADA Notice and Grievance Procedures

NOTICE UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

In accordance with the requirements of title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”), the City of Nashua will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability in its services, programs or activities.

Employment

The City of Nashua does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its hiring or employment practices and complies with all regulations promulgated by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under title I of the ADA.

Effective Communication

The City of Nashua, will generally, upon request, provide appropriate aids and services leading to effective communications for qualified persons with disabilities, so they can participate equally in the City of Nashua’s programs, services and activities, including qualified sign language interpreters, documents in Braille and other ways of making information and communications accessible to people who have speech, hearing or vision impairments.

Modifications to Policies and Procedures

The City of Nashua will make reasonable modifications to policies and procedures to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all of its programs, services and activities. For example, people with service animals are welcomed in the City of Nashua offices, even where pets are generally prohibited.

Requests

Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communications, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a program, service or activity of the City of Nashua’s, should contact an ADA Coordinator in the Risk Management Department as soon as possible, preferably at least 10 days before the scheduled event.

The ADA does not require the City of Nashua to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services, or impose an undue financial or administrative burden.

Complaints that a program, service or activity of the City of Nashua is not accessible to persons with disabilities should be directed to an ADA Coordinator in the Risk Management Department.

The City of Nashua will not place a surcharge on a particular individual with a disability or any group of individuals with disabilities to cover the cost of providing auxiliary aids/services or reasonable modifications of policy, such as retrieving items from locations that are open to the public, but are not accessible to persons who use wheelchairs.

CITY OF NASHUA’S GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE - UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

This Grievance Procedure is established to meet the requirements of Title II of the ADA. It may be used by anyone who wishes to file a complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of disability in the provisions of services, activities, programs or benefits by the City of Nashua. The City of Nashua‘s Personnel Policy governs employment related complaints of disability discrimination.

Any person who believes she or he has been subjected to discrimination on the basis of disability may file a grievance under this procedure. It is against the law for the City of Nashua to retaliate against anyone who files a grievance or cooperates in the investigation of a grievance.

Procedure:

• The should be submitted by the grievant and/or his/her designee as soon as possible, but no later than 180 calendar days after the alleged violation to an ADA Coordinator in the Risk Management Department.

• The complaint should be in writing and contain information about the alleged discrimination such as name, address, phone number of grievant and location, date and description of the problem and the remedy or relief sought.

• The complainant may contact the ADA Coordinator for assistance in writing the complaint, and may have the form mailed to them for signature from the ADA Coordinator.

• Within 15 calendar days after receipt of the complaint, an ADA Coordinator will reach out to the complainant to discuss the complaint and possible resolutions.

• Within 15 calendar days of this discussion, the ADA Coordinator will respond in writing, and where appropriate, in a format accessible to the complainant, such as large print, Braille or audio tape. The response will explain the position of the City of Nashua and offer options for substantive resolution of the complaint.

• If the response by the ADA Coordinator does not satisfactorily resolve the issue, the grievant and/or his/her designee may appeal the decision in writing within 15 days after receipt of the response to the Mayor of the City.

• The complainant may also file a complaint with the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration New Hampshire Division Office, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, DC and/or Department of Justice, Office of Civil Rights.

• All written complaints and responses will be retained by the City of Nashua for at least 3 years.

The City of Nashua will make appropriate arrangements to ensure that disabled persons are provided other accommodations, if needed, to participate in this grievance process. Such arrangements may include, but are not limited to, providing interpreters for the deaf, providing taped cassettes of material for the blind, or assuring a barrier-free location for the proceedings. The ADA Coordinator will be responsible for such arrangements.

ADA Coordinators – Risk Management

Ross Dugas – DugasR@NashuaNH.gov  

Jennifer Deshaies – DeshaiesJ@NashuaNH.gov 

229 Main Street – Nashua NH 03062 – 603.589.3350