The Americans with Disabilities Act has produced a lot of absurd decisions, but it’s hard to top a recent one by the Third Circuit.
A man who is deaf and blind insisted that a Cinemark theater that was showing the movie Gone Girl had to accommodate his disability by providing him with a sign-language tactile interpreter. When the theater declined to do so, he sued, claiming a violation of the ADA. The district court ruled that Cinemark did not have to provide him with an interpreter, but on appeal the Third Circuit reversed and sent the case back. Unless Cinemark can show that having to provide interpreters for patrons who demand them would be an “undue burden,” this case will set another law-expanding precedent.
I discuss the case and the problems with the ADA in this Forbes article.
It’s too bad that Bush 41 signed this vague and in my view unconstitutional law. I’m afraid we are stuck with it and activist judges will keep pushing it further and further.