AMC Theatres Agrees To Pay After Allegedly Pushing Out Employee With Cerebral Palsy

The nation’s largest movie theater chain will pay $56,000 and take other steps to settle claims that it illegally forced out an employee with cerebral palsy after two decades on the job.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said that American Multi-Cinema, known as AMC Theatres, will compensate the former employee and change its policies and procedures related to handling requests for reasonable accommodation and barring discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The company will also train its staff and post an employee notice about disability discrimination.

The settlement comes after the EEOC sued AMC on behalf of Marc Gillis who worked at an AMC location in Owings Mills, Md. for 22 years.

According to the suit, Gillis was given a new manager who shouted at him, reduced his work hours and did not provide him with reasonable accommodations in the form of a ticket scanner with a strap and side button as well as a large font printed list showing each movie and which theater it was in.

The suit said that the manager ultimately stopped putting Gillis on the schedule.

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

Officials with AMC did not respond to a request for comment on the settlement.