Deaf Advocacy Group Suing Bow Tie Cinemas Over Movie Access

There are 70,000 deaf and hearing-impaired people in the Hartford area who are unable to enjoy a movie, and a Connecticut deaf advocacy group is saying it’s time that be changed.

The group, Connecticut Association for the Deaf, has filed a suit against Bow Tie Cinemas in U.S. District Court in Connecticut Tuesday for failing to accommodate deaf and hearing-impaired patrons, according to a release. It’s making the claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits businesses from discriminating based on disability and requires reasonable efforts to make services accessible.

The complaint is that few movies shown at local theaters have open captions and while attempting to see a movie at Bow Tie theaters in Hartford and West Hartford, plaintiffs were told that closed-captioning devices were unavailable or didn’t work, the Hartford Courant reported. The West Hartford theater is just a mile from the American School for the Deaf.

Bow Tie Cinemas operates 12 theater complexes in Connecticut and six in other states.

“We are tired of waiting,” said Harvey Corson, Ed.D., President of CAD.  “All we want is to be able to go to the movies with our friends and family members like other Americans. The technology exists. They just need to make it available, and to make sure their employees know how to turn it on.”

Attorneys at McCarter & English, Connecticut Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities, the National Association of the Deaf are representing the group pro bono, according to the Connecticut Law Tribune.