City of Seattle Grievance Procedure under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

This grievance procedure is established to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. It may be used by anyone who wishes to file a complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of disability in the provision of services, activities, programs or benefits by the City. The City's Personnel Policy governs employment-related complaints of disability discrimination.

Take the first step: Before filing your complaint, contact the City's ADA coordinator to discuss your concerns. The ADA coordinator can look into the issue and try to come up with an acceptable resolution to the situation. For more information, contact:

City of Seattle ADA Coordinator Autumn Harris
Email: adacoordinator@seattle.gov
Voice: (206) 684-2489 (CITY)
TTY: 7-1-1

Department of Facilities and Administrative Services
700 Fifth Ave., Suite 4300
P.O. Box 94689
Seattle, WA 98124-4689

You can file a complaint against the City using any of the following grievance procedures:

  1. File a written complaint with the City of Seattle's ADA coordinator as soon as possible, but no later than 60 calendar days after the alleged violation.
    • The written complaint should be submitted by the grievant and/or designee.
    • Alternative means of filing complaints — such as personal interview or a tape recording — will be made available on request by people with disabilities.
    • The written complaint should contain information about the alleged discrimination, such as name, address, phone number of complainant and location, date and description of the problem.
    • Within 15 calendar days after receiving the complaint, City of Seattle ADA Coordinator Autumn Harris and/or her designee will meet with the complainant to discuss the complaint and possible resolutions.
    • Within 15 calendar days of the meeting, the ADA coordinator will respond in writing or by other appropriate accessible format. The response will explain the position of the City and offer options for substantive resolution of the complaint.
    • If the response by the ADA coordinator does not resolve the issue, the complainant and/or designee may appeal the decision within 15 calendar days after receiving the response. The appeal will be sent to the Equity and Policy Director of Facilities and Administrative Services or their designee.  
    • Within 15 calendar days after receipt of the appeal, the Equity and Policy Director of Facilities and Administrative Services or their designee will meet with the complainant to discuss the complaint and possible resolutions.
    • Within 15 calendar days after the meeting, the Equity and Policy Director of Facilities and Administrative Services or their designee will respond in writing or by other appropriate accessible format with a final resolution of the complaint.
    • All written documents in the process will be retained by the City for at least three years.
  2. File a charge with the Seattle Office for Civil Rights (SOCR). Contact SOCR at 206-684-4500 (TTY: 206-684-4503) or in person at 810 Third Ave., Suite 750 in downtown Seattle. Charges must be filed within 180 days of an incident. All services are free, and reasonable accommodations are provided on request, including language interpretation.
  3. File a complaint directly with the U.S. Department of Justice through the ADA Information Line: 1-800-514-0301 (TTY: 1-800-514-0383). You also can submit a written complaint to:

    U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
    950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
    Disability Rights Section — 1425 NYAV
    Washington, DC 20530

Alternative formats and language translations for this document are available on request.