San Francisco Judge Calls Harkins Movie Theatres Attorneys “Jerks”
The San Francisco federal court of appeals was packed one January day with people with visual and hearing impairments. They wanted to hear oral argument about whether a lawsuit can go forward against Harkins Movie Theatres, an Arizona chain that refuses to provide captioning or audio description after dismissal by a lower court arguing that neither the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or Arizona State law require either.

The three appellate judges hearing the case demonstrated a keen interest in the issue and grilled the lawyer for Harkins why his company didn’t just “do the right thing” and provide the technology to allow people with disabilities to enjoy movies. Judge Alex Kozinski said, “The attitude does not strike me as a generous approach.”

The judges seemed impressed with the ease at which real time captioning and sign language interpretation were provide to accommodate the audience – wondering out loud why, if the court could provide this accommodation, a technologically sophisticated movie chain count not. The judges also noted a brief filed by the Obama administration Justice Department in support of the argument that captions and audio description are “auxiliary aids and services” under the ADA.

Judge Kozinski probed the theater’s argument that deaf and blind movie goers are as few as anyone else to sit through a movie without captioning or description. He compared that type of reasoning with now-discredited claims that it is acceptable to force people who use wheelchairs to be carried up the courthouse steps.

The Judge said, “You are going to lose eventually. I don’t know if you are going to lose this case or not, but you are going to lose this battle in the end. You can get out in front of it and be the good guys, or you can be dragged kicking and screaming and look like jerks. I don’t understand why you are choosing to fight this battle…This is a case where lawyers can be healers rather than warriors.”

[From the San Fernando Valley Hearsay newsletter, February 2010, HLAA e-news, December 28, 2010]