BALTIMORE — American Multi-Cinema (AMC), a nationwide movie theatre chain, will pay $56,000 and furnish significant remedial relief to settle a federal disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, AMC, at its Owings Mills, Maryland location, violated federal law when it forced a 22-year employee with cerebral palsy to quit around September 2023 after it deprived him of reasonable accommodations. These requested accommodations included a ticket scanner with a strap and side button, and a large font printed list of the movies and their corresponding theatres, which would have enabled him to better perform his job. According to the suit, AMC also greatly reduced the employee’s hours, forcing him to quit his job.

“Federal law requires employers to modify how work is performed before determining that an employee with a disability cannot perform the job,” said Debra Lawrence, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Philadelphia District. “Absent undue hardship, an employer should purchase adaptive devices instead of cutting an employee’s hours.”

Such alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities, absent undue hardship, and prohibits discrimination based on disability. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. American Multi-Cinema Inc., Case No. 25-cv-03003-CJC) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Acting EEOC Baltimore Field Office Director Karen McDonough said, “From its inception, the ADA has protected the right of people with significant disabilities like cerebral palsy to participate fully in the workforce. Employers have a legal obligation to provide reasonable accommodations, and the EEOC will hold them accountable when they fail to do so.”

In addition to paying $56,000 in monetary relief under the two-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit, AMC will update and implement written policies and procedures to address the appropriate handling of requests for reasonable accommodation and to prohibit disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act; provide training to staff; and post an employee notice about disability discrimination.

For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination. For information on finding reasonable accommodations, visit: https://askjan.org/.

The lawsuit was initiated by the EEOC’s Baltimore Field Office, one of four component offices of the agency’s Philadelphia District Office. The Philadelphia District Office has jurisdiction over Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, and portions of New Jersey and Ohio. Attorneys in the Philadelphia District Office also prosecute discrimination cases in Washington, D.C., and portions of Virginia.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.