DISTRICT COURT RULES AMC’S STADIUM-STYLE THEATERS DISCRIMINATE
AGAINST PATRONS WHO USE WHEELCHAIRS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A federal court in Los Angeles, California ruled on November 20th that the American MultiCinema, Inc., (AMC) movie theater chain has violated the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) by offering patrons who use wheelchairs and their companions only inferior seating in the front rows of its new stadium-style movie theaters.

U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper held that, while AMC publicizes its stadium-style movie theaters as providing enhanced, unobstructed lines of sight to the screen that “virtually suspend the moviegoer in front of the wall-to-wall screen,” patrons who use wheelchairs are excluded from the most popular stadium sections in the vast majority of AMC’s stadium-style theaters.

The court’s decision further states that patrons who use wheelchairs are routinely left to sit in the few rows of seating on the sloped-floor closest to the screen, outside the stadium section. Those seats are less popular, offer poor views of the screen and isolate persons who use wheelchairs from the rest of the movie audience.

The court concluded that AMC violated the ADA by failing to provide its patrons who use wheelchairs with comparable lines of sight to the movie screen in its stadium-style movie theaters nationwide.

The Justice Department filed this lawsuit against defendants AMC Entertainment, Inc. and American Multi-Cinema, Inc. (“AMC”) in the United States District Court for the Central District of California in January 1999. The complaint alleged that AMC violated Title III of the ADA by engaging in a pattern and practice of denying persons with physical disabilities equal access to goods, benefits, and services in their stadium-style movie theaters.

Several issues, including the damages to be awarded disabled moviegoers who were discriminated against by AMC, are still pending before the court. Also pending is the United States’ motion for an order requiring AMC to remedy all of the other ADA violations that do not involve line of sight issues (such as concession counters, companion seating, wheelchair ramps, and parking lots) at its stadium-style theater complexes. AMC currently owns and/or operates over 80 stadium-style movie theater complexes nationwide.

“This court decision ensures that people with disabilities will have a movie-going experience that is comparable to that of other patrons,” said Ralph F. Boyd, Jr., Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

Individuals interested in finding out more about the ADA can call the Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383/TDD or can access the ADA Home Page at <http://www.ada.gov.>

###

02-690