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Cinemark theaters to install devices for the deaf
Cinemark, the nation's third-largest movie chain, said Tuesday it will install closed-captioning equipment for the deaf and hard-of-hearing in all its theaters in California by mid-2012,settling a disability-rights lawsuit in Alameda County.
The settlement "makes first-run movies available to millions of patrons," said Kevin Kniestrick, a lawyer with Disability Rights Advocates in Berkeley, which filed the suit in December.
Cinemark said it has already equipped about half its 64 California theaters with closed captioning. The company said it is using a wireless captioning device that fits into a seat cup holder, with a visor that shields the caption from other patrons.
Advocates said Cinemark had been alone among the three largest theater chains in refusing to use closed-captioning equipment. Kniestrick said the other two leading chains, Regal and AMC, provided limited captioning - often at off-peak hours and in only one theater per multiplex - and have been sued in other states.
Cinemark has nearly 300 theaters nationwide, including four in Alameda County - in San Leandro, Hayward, Newark and Union City. The settlement applies only to California, but advocates are meeting with Cinemark and other chains to try to get closed captioning installed in other states, said plaintiffs' lawyer Sid Wolinsky.
The suit accused Cinemark of violating the Americans With Disabilities Act and California's disability law by failing to provide accommodations that would offer equal access to hearing-impaired customers.
A federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled in an Arizona case last year that closed captioning can be required at movie theaters under the disability law. The ruling said owners could avoid such an order by showing that it would cause financial hardship.
Cinemark, the nation's third-largest movie chain, said Tuesday it will install closed-captioning equipment for the deaf and hard-of-hearing in all its theaters in California by mid-2012,settling a disability-rights lawsuit in Alameda County.
The settlement "makes first-run movies available to millions of patrons," said Kevin Kniestrick, a lawyer with Disability Rights Advocates in Berkeley, which filed the suit in December.
Cinemark said it has already equipped about half its 64 California theaters with closed captioning. The company said it is using a wireless captioning device that fits into a seat cup holder, with a visor that shields the caption from other patrons.
Advocates said Cinemark had been alone among the three largest theater chains in refusing to use closed-captioning equipment. Kniestrick said the other two leading chains, Regal and AMC, provided limited captioning - often at off-peak hours and in only one theater per multiplex - and have been sued in other states.
Cinemark has nearly 300 theaters nationwide, including four in Alameda County - in San Leandro, Hayward, Newark and Union City. The settlement applies only to California, but advocates are meeting with Cinemark and other chains to try to get closed captioning installed in other states, said plaintiffs' lawyer Sid Wolinsky.
The suit accused Cinemark of violating the Americans With Disabilities Act and California's disability law by failing to provide accommodations that would offer equal access to hearing-impaired customers.
A federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled in an Arizona case last year that closed captioning can be required at movie theaters under the disability law. The ruling said owners could avoid such an order by showing that it would cause financial hardship.
