Deaf man wins ADA discrimination case against Six Flags

Melvin Patterson, a Deaf man, successfully sued Six Flags Theme Parks and its affiliates in federal court after the parks did not make any substantial effort to provide him and his family with ASL interpreters after multiple requests.

Patterson was represented by attorney Andrew Rozynski of Eisenberg & Baum, LLP.

There is likely going to be big changes in the near future on how Six Flags and other amusement parks provide interpreters for deaf people.

I will recap the case and show you clips of an interview with Patterson and his legal representatives.

Melvin Patterson: My name is Melvin Patterson. This is my sign name.

Alex: In June 2021, Patterson and his wife wanted to celebrate one of their children’s upcoming birthday by going to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Bay Area, California. Patterson bought Gold Plus memberships, which allows you to attend the park as often as you want for a year.

Two days prior to Patterson’ trip, he contacted Six Flags to request an ASL interpreter.

Melvin Patterson: I made a simple call to request interpreters. It was my daughter’s birthday. Nobody picked up the call. When I showed up, I requested an interpreter. They gave me the runaround and gave me a number. I proceeded with my day and it was fine. I was actually amazed because my daughter, who is a CODA, told me that there were announcements for upcoming shows. So how much information did I miss? She explained things and was like my interpreter. It was actually just conversational, but I ended up following her around and there were verbal announcements everywhere. I’ve gone to Six Flags many times and never knew why people acted the way they did. Now I know why people are walking to certain places, for a show or a ride. So I contacted Six Flags for an interpreter but was rebuffed. I asked for a simple refund for my Gold Pass. We had five passes in total. I thought it was not worth it to get into a dispute. Six Flags said, “No.” They said once I signed the contract, there can be no refunds for any reason. I said just refund me because there was no interpreters — it’s a fair deal. They said “No.” So I demanded an interpreter. They gave me the runaround.

Alex (Daily Moth): Six Flags told Patterson that he had to give seven days’ notice for an interpreter to the park’s operations office.

Patterson then made requests for interpreters on specific dates for future visits. Six Flags said they couldn’t provide an interpreter — instead he had to bring his own interpreter and the park would cover the cost of that person.

This was actually not Six Flags’ policy but nobody corrected it or even tried to arrange an interpreter.

Melvin Patterson: So we went to federal court and we answered many questions. We explained our side. After this, the court informed our attorneys that we won our case.

Alex: U.S. District Judge Chief Judge Kimberly Mueller in California said “In sum, over the course of three months, defendants (Six Flags) ignored Patterson’s emails, directed Patterson to three different policies, gave him contradictory instructions, and never offered to provide an interpreter or other assistive device for upcoming visits to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.”

Andrew Rozynski: There can be a lot of debate on what is reasonable and not reasonable. But this really shows that unless Six Flags can prove that it is unreasonable, like someone showing up on the same day, without notice, and demanding an interpreter right there and they are denied, then obviously Six Flags can make a defense and say they had limited time, it’s unreasonable and too much of a burden. But today, with technology, why not provide an iPad with VRI for last-minute situations? It’s possible. So, fortunately, the burden is placed on Six Flags to prove it is unreasonable. It’s not on the deaf person to show it’s unreasonable. So that’s a big, positive change.

Alex: The judge said the defendants (Six Flags) are liable under the ADA and under a California law anti-discrimination law called the Unruh Act.

The judge ordered Six Flags to pay Patterson the costs of the Gold Pass memberships and over $50,000 in damages, and attorneys’ fees.

The judge said the court would grant injunctive relief — which is like an order for Six Flags to change how it operates in order to be in compliance with the ADA.

Sheryl Eisenberg Michalowski: It is an exciting time because the more you educate, the more access there is, it can spread to other amusement parks. I remember being a little kid, it was hard because there were no interpreters available. I felt left out at the parks. Some kids were so excited about things but I didn’t understand anything. So this is a really wonderful opportunity for me to share the excitement with my grandchildren. It is an opportunity for me to feel there is equal access with all the opportunities.

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Alex: The judge said Patterson and his attorneys will, within 45 days, submit a proposed injunction on how Six Flags can make good faith efforts to provide ASL interpreters, train staff on ADA compliance and handling of ASL interpreter requests, establish processes to get interpreting services, and do internal audits on these practices.

Andrew Rozynski: The court ordered for us to meet with Six Flags to discuss proposed changes that need to happen. We will submit them to the court what we want the court to order. Then Six Flags will have a chance to submit their counterproposal. Then the judge will decide what is in the permanent court order against Six Flags in the future.

Melvin Patterson: I must emphasize the importance of accessibility. With no accessibility, it means there is no innovation, no ingenuity, no development of emotional intelligence. You just show up and ride the rides. If accessibility is provided, there is so much to take in. These people are who we will rely on to become our leaders, great advocates, and the list goes on.

Andrew Rozynski: I think a lot of times, people are just content with limited options. They think, “Okay, that’s all I can expect.” But the law is stronger than you think it is. Sometimes it takes people like Melvin to stand up for their rights. Take it all the way to court and win to finally prove that it’s what the law requires.

Alex: So, this is an impactful case for deaf people and amusement parks. We will update on what the judge decides Six Flags has to do when that decision comes in the future.

https://casetext.com/case/patterson-v-six-flags-theme-parks-inc-8

https://www.courthousenews.com/six-flags-faces-penalties-for-denying-asl-interpreter/