What if only People with Brown Eyes Got to Sit in the “Good” Seats at Movie Theaters?
Have you ever arrived late for a movie and had no choice but to sit front-row-center, your neck aching because the only possible way to view the movie was to tilt your head as far back as possible? Or, perhaps worse, have you been relegated to the far edge of the front row, where even with your head twisted up and sideways (ouch!) the distorted images on the screen resembled something Picasso might have painted?
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Three movie lovers came to Disability Rights Oregon with a simple request: that viewing in six Regal stadium style theaters, in Portland, Sherwood, and Salem be usable and comfortable for people in wheelchairs. The problem was, in several of Regal's older theaters the only spaces available to people using wheelchairs were in the center of the front row, and on the far edges of the undesirable first few rows. Most of the theater seats (and all of the good ones) were accessible only by climbing stairs.
DRO’s Action
This lack of access to acceptable seating for people in wheelchairs violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The key issue in the case hinged on the meaning of four words in Title III of the ADA -- "comparable line of sight."
Disability Rights Oregon realized that remedying this problem would help many people in Oregon who both use wheelchairs and like seeing movies in theaters. In January of 2000 we filed a lawsuit challenging Regal's placement of wheelchair seating. Oregon Paralyzed Veterans of America joined us in the case.
The District Court judge who heard the case first found in favor of Regal, ruling that an unobstructed view met the ADA requirement. DRO appealed the case, and the U.S. Department of Justice filed a brief supporting our position. This time movie lovers who use wheelchairs won: the Ninth Circuit ruled that wheelchairs spaces must have the same viewing angles as seats provided to the general public in the stadium riser section. This meant that the spaces themselves had to be up on the risers.
Regal appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court let the Ninth Circuit decision stand.
Results that Continue to Benefit People in Wheelchairs Today
Both Disability Rights Oregon and the U.S. Department of Justice negotiated settlements with Regal that included changes in the location of wheelchair seating:
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Disability Rights Oregon dropped its lawsuit in exchange for Regal's agreement to retrofit its Regal 6 theaters.
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Under the Department of Justice settlement, which applied to all Regal theaters in the United States, wheelchair spaces were added to the first row of the stadium riser seats, and all front row wheelchair spaces moved as far back on the sloped floor as possible. All theaters constructed after this case must provide seating that is at least as good as the average viewing angles for movie goers in wheelchairs.
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