A complainant sued AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. for violating Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The case is based on the allegation that the captioning devices at Tyler Galleria, one of AMC’s movie theaters located in Riverside, California, failed to work appropriately on several occasions. The complainant claimed when she informs the facility’s personnel about the inoperable captioning equipment, they often gave her a different one, but the new one often did not work. Upon receiving this complaint, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California undertook a thorough investigation into the claim to establish any possible violation. United States Department of Justice has the legal mandate for the enforcement of Title III of ADA. Before hearing complaints, the agency is required to investigate claims to establish facts of the case. In this case, the Attorney’s Office examined the complainant’s allegation and found that the alleged breach was credible.
The disability at issue in this particular case is hearing impairment. According to ADA, disability includes any “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities” (ADA, n.d.). Taylor (2018) explains that “disability is viewed in terms of medical conditions that need treatment or therapy, while in others disability is viewed as the result of interplay between impairments and environmental conditions” (p. 1). The complainant meets the criteria of disability because she had serious difficulty seeing. According to the facts of the case, the complainant had e mental and physical impairment, which substantially limited her ability to hear. The limitation of this major life activity was confirmed by the inquiry’s results further revealed that the capturing equipment at the theater was dysfunctional.
Based on the complainant’s claims and investigation outcome, the reasonable accommodation requested and not present is functional captioning devices. The investigators established a similar problem where one of the facility’s patrons and guest had reported that one of the captioning devices often turned off during a movie. The company’s management conducted their separate investigation, whose findings showed that five pieces of equipment had problems, thus confirming allegations. The absence of functional and well-maintained captioning devices substantially limited the complainant’s hearing in line with Title III of ADA.
The defendant did several wrong moves that led the court to rule in the complainant’s favor. Majorly, AMC’s Tyler Galleria’s failure to provide closed movie captioning when exhibiting digital movies amounted to discrimination against the complainant and other guests with similar physical impairments. Guests with hearing problems could not fully and equally enjoy the entertainment services and accommodations that such public accommodation facilities are required to provide. The theater failed to properly maintain its captioning equipment, ensuring that the devices are fully operational and patrons can access and use them timely and quickly. Furthermore, the available support staff was not helpful to guests who sought or used the captioning devices. Consequently, the absence of these mandate accommodations justifies the complainant’s discrimination allegations under Title III of ADA.
The complainant’s efforts were fruitful because the court and complainant reached a favorable out-of-court settlement agreement. Mainly, AMC was ordered to pay the complainant $1,500 in compensation for the discrimination required by Title III of ADA. Furthermore, the company was required to make significant changes in its theaters to avert such breaches in the future. For example, the entertainment firm is supposed to ensure that each captioning equipment in the theater in question is fully operational, easily accessible, and can be used quickly by patrons. Moreover, the facility will have to ensure that support employees are always available to help guests. These accommodations are in the complainant’s best interests and the public interest.
References
Americans with Disabilities Act. (n.d.). Settlement Agreement Between the United States of America and AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. Web.
Taylor, D. M. (2018). Americans with disabilities: 2014. Household Economic Studies, 1-32. Web.