678
Opinion of the Court
the Court of Appeals) that the competitors' area "behind the ropes" is not a public accommodation, notwithstanding the status of the rest of the golf course. Rather, petitioner re-frames the coverage issue by arguing that the competing golfers are not members of the class protected by Title III of the ADA.27
According to petitioner, Title III is concerned with discrimination against "clients and customers" seeking to obtain "goods and services" at places of public accommodation, whereas it is Title I that protects persons who work at such places.28 As the argument goes, petitioner operates not a "golf course" during its tournaments but a "place of exhibition or entertainment," 42 U. S. C. § 12181(7)(C), and a professional golfer such as Martin, like an actor in a theater production, is a provider rather than a consumer of the entertainment that petitioner sells to the public. Martin therefore cannot bring a claim under Title III because he is not one of the " 'clients or customers of the covered public accommodation.' " 29 Rather, Martin's claim of discrimination is "job-related" 30 and could only be brought under Title I—but that Title does not apply because he is an independent contractor (as the District Court found) rather than an employee.
The reference to "clients or customers" that petitioner quotes appears in 42 U. S. C. § 12182(b)(1)(A)(iv), which
27 Martin complains that petitioner's failure to make this exact argument below precludes its assertion here. However, the Title III coverage issue was raised in the lower courts, petitioner advanced this particular argument in support of its position on the issue in its petition for certiorari, and the argument was fully briefed on the merits by both parties. Given the importance of the issue, we exercise our discretion to consider it. See Harris Trust and Sav. Bank v. Salomon Smith Barney Inc., 530 U. S. 238, 245-246, n. 2 (2000); Carlson v. Green, 446 U. S. 14, 17, n. 2 (1980).
28 Brief for Petitioner 10, 11.
29 Id., at 19 (quoting 42 U. S. C. § 12182(b)(1)(A)(iv)).
30 Brief for Petitioner 15; see also id., at 16 (Martin's claim "is nothing more than a straightforward discrimination-in-the-workplace complaint").
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