National Association of the Deaf

On January 11, 2004, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted preliminary approval to settle a case brought by deaf and hard of hearing people living in the Metropolitan Washington, DC area (identified as Class Members) against AMC and Loews theaters.

The lawsuit alleged that AMC and Loews violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to provide captioning for movies shown at AMC and Loews theaters.

The Notice of Proposed Settlement briefly describes the lawsuit, the proposed settlement, the rights of Class Members, and the fairness hearing process. The Notice of Proposed Settlement is posted on the Internet at: http://www.lawyers.com/simeoneandmiller/MovieTheaterSettlement.jsp. Under the proposed settlement, Rear Window Captioning (RWC) equipment would be installed in twelve (12) AMC and Loews theaters' screens in the Metropolitan Washington, DC area within 24 months after the Court approves the settlement. RWC equipment would also be installed in any new theaters built by AMC or Loews in the Metropolitan Washington, DC area.

Class Members may oppose the settlement by writing to the Court and by making a statement at the fairness hearing. On April 1, 2004, at 9:30 am, the Court will hold a fairness hearing to determine whether the proposed settlement agreement is fair, reasonable and adequate and should be approved. The fairness hearing is open to anyone who wants to attend.

Deaf or hard of hearing people living in the Metropolitan Washington, DC area who are planning to attend the fairness hearing should contact the Director of Interpreting Services, Teresa Salazar, at Teresa_C._Salazar@dcd.uscourts.gov by March 15, 2004, to request reasonable accommodations (i.e., qualified sign language interpreter services, real-time captioning, assistive listening devices, etc.).

If you wish to oppose all or any part of the proposed settlement, you must file a written statement with the Clerk of the Court describing your opposition by March 12, 2004.

If you intend to appear at the hearing and make a statement in court to oppose the settlement, you must file a notice of your intention to do so with the Clerk of the Court by March 12, 2004. You do not need to submit a statement to attend and observe the fairness hearing. Copies of any written statements and notices of intention to make a statement at the fairness hearing must also be mailed to the designated attorneys.