AMC Theatres Face ADA Class Action Lawsuit Over Faulty Headsets

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AMC Entertainment faces a potential class action lawsuit over allegations that the national movie theater chain routinely denies blind customers proper audio devices so they can enjoy this “classic part of American cultural life.”

Lead plaintiff Scott Blanks of California filed the AMC class action lawsuit after allegedly suffering through years of being provided with faulty headsets at various AMC Theatres.

According to Blanks, the most recent and distinctively disappointing AMC experience occurred last November when he and his wife took their twin three-year old sons to watch the “Good Dinosaur.”

The AMC lawsuit states that this was the first time Blanks’ sighted sons were able to go to the movies and it was supposed to be an “enjoyable and significant family event.”

The class action lawsuit claims that the audio description device only worked for 10 minutes and then started to cut-out intermittently. After 30 minutes, the headset stopped working entirely which meant that Blanks had no narrative to tell him what was happening in the movie.

Blanks explains that audio description technology is critical to the movie-going experience for the blind and visually impaired. He states that movie studios create an audio description track that contains narration of the visual elements of the movie which is synchronized with the film. These headsets are then provided to AMC and other theaters so that blind patrons can understand scenes without dialogue making it easier to understand movies.

The AMC class action lawsuit says that when blind movie-goers asks for an audio description device at AMC theatres, often times the staff will hand them the wrong device. Instead of the description headset, they are given a device that assists people who are hard of hearing.

“If a blind customer gets the correct device at all, it is usually because AMC staff sought assistance from management, which takes additional time, often causing the blind patron to be late to the movie they have come to the theater to watch,” the plaintiff states.

According to the AMC class action, Congress made a clear and national requirement that eliminates discrimination against citizens with disabilities when it enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act more than 25 years ago.

Blanks says discrimination includes all barriers to full integration and equal opportunities for those with disabilities to enjoy public places including movie theaters.

The group of blind plaintiffs as well as the California Council of the Blind and LightHouse, which are two nonprofit corporations that serve the blind and visually impaired, allege that AMC Theatres are in violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

If approved, the AMC Theatres class action lawsuit would be open to all Class Members within the U.S. who are blind or visually impaired movie patrons that have attempted to use audio description headsets at an AMC theater.

The plaintiffs are represented by Rebecca Williford of Berkeley-based Disability Rights Advocates and San Francisco attorney Michael Nunez of Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld.

The AMC Theatres ADA Class Action Lawsuit is Scott Blanks, et al. v. AMC Entertainment Inc., et al., Case No. 3:16-cv-00765 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On April 27, 2017, AMC Theatres agreed to settle this class action lawsuit. Under the terms of the settlement, AMC Theatres will go through a two-year period of implementing new policies and procedures designed to improve its provision of audio description devices. The company will also train theater employees on how to set up and use the devices and will create a guidance document for employees’ future reference.