Feldman v. Pro Football, Inc.
| Decision Date | 30 March 2008 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. AW-06-2266. |
| Citation | 579 F.Supp.2d 697 |
| Parties | Shane FELDMAN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. PRO FOOTBALL, INC., et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maryland |
Joseph B. Espo, Brown Goldstein and Levy LLP, Baltimore, MD, Marc P. Charmatz, Rosaline Hayes Crawford, National Association of the Deaf, Silver Spring, MD, for Plaintiffs.
Brigida Benitez, Danielle Yvette Conley, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Washington, DC, for Defendants.
Plaintiffs bring this action against Defendants for violations of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). Currently pending before the Court are Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment; Plaintiffs' Cross Motion for Summary Judgment; and Plaintiffs' Motion for Leave to File Surreply. The Court has reviewed the entire record, as well as the pleadings and exhibits, with respect to the instant motions. On September 29, 2008, the Court conducted a hearing on the pending motions. See Local Rule 105.6 (D. Md. 2008). For the reasons stated more fully below, the Court will DENY Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment; GRANT-IN-PART and DENY-IN-PART Plaintiffs' Cross Motion for Summary Judgment; and DENY Plaintiffs' Motion for Leave to File Surreply.
Plaintiffs are deaf and hard of hearing individuals who are fans of the Washington Redskins football team and have attended a varying number of Redskins home games since the team began playing at FedExField. Plaintiffs plan to attend future Redskins home games.
Defendant Pro Football, Inc. ("PFI") is a Maryland Corporation that owns and operates the Redskins. Defendant WFI Stadium, Inc. ("WFI") is a Delaware Corporation that owns and operates FedEx-Field. WFI leases FedExField to PFI for the playing of Redskins home games. Since September 1997, the Redskins have played their home games at FedExField, which seats approximately 91,000 people and is located in Landover, Maryland.
On August 31, 2006, Plaintiffs filed this suit against Defendants alleging violations of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). Plaintiffs argue that Defendants do not provide deaf and hard of hearing fans equal access to the information and announcements broadcast over FedExField's public address system. In particular, Plaintiffs assert that Defendants have refused to provide auxiliary aids and services ( captioning) to ensure that announcements made over the public address system are effectively communicated to deaf and hard of hearing fans. Plaintiffs' claim that auxiliary aids and services should be available in two areas of FedExField: the stadium bowl and the stadium concourse levels.
Prior to the 2006 football season, with limited exception, FedExField did not caption any announcements made over the stadium's public address system. The Redskins have always offered assisted listening devices to hard of hearing fans who request one. However, Plaintiffs do not benefit from assistive listening devices.
In 2002, Plaintiff Paul Singleton ("Singleton") requested that the Redskins move his seats closer to the scoreboard. The Redskins complied with Singleton's request. On June 18, 2003, Plaintiff Shane Feldman ("Feldman") sent an email to Todd Boyan of the Redskins requesting that the Redskins caption the stadium's public address system announcements on the Sony JumboTrons1 ("JumboTron") located in each end zone at FedExField. Feldman explained that captioning would help him understand referee calls, plays during the game, and emergency announcements, such as the announcements made at FedExField during a pepper spray incident in the 2002 football season. Feldman exchanged further emails with Redskins personnel during 2003 and 2004. In those emails, Feldman and the Redskins discussed captioning on the Jumbo-Trons and a handheld captioning system known as Colorado Captioning. On February 22, 2006, the National Association of the Deaf sent a letter to Daniel Snyder, the Redskins' owner, requesting that "all of the announcements made over the public address system at FedExField be made accessible by captioning in compliance with Title III" of the ADA. Emails and documents reflect that, from 2003 until the filing of the present action, the Redskins contemplated several solutions to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing fans.
Plaintiffs filed the present suit on August 31, 2006 and served Defendants on September 6, 2006. The Redskins first home game of that season was on September 11, 2006. At that time, other than open captioning2 of an emergency evacuation video on the JumboTrons, Defendants still did not caption any of the material requested by the Plaintiffs. On October 15, 2006, FedExField began captioning certain aural content. Defendants have provided the majority of the below listed captioning at every home game since October 15, 2006. Defendants state that they intend to continue providing these captioning services indefinitely. Plaintiffs contest this intention and argue that these captioning services can be shut off with the "flip of a switch."
FedExField uses a public address system to make announcements in the stadium bowl before, during, and after each home game.
FedExField has a JumboTron in each end zone. Several other scoreboards are located next to each JumboTron. During games, the JumboTrons display live action video, replays, advertisements, public service announcements, an emergency evacuation video, and emergency text messages. Cameras in the stadium capture the live action video and replays displayed on the JumboTrons (hereinafter, "JumboTron video feed"). As discussed in more detail below, half of the televisions on the concourse levels of the stadium display the JumboTron video feed.
FedExField also has two light-emitting diode ribbon boards ("LED ribbon boards") located midway between the upper and lower seating decks on each side of the stadium at the 50 yard line. Most public address system announcements are now closed captioned on the LED ribbon boards.3 A stenographer captions the material that appears on the LED ribbon boards.4 The LED ribbon boards can be seen from almost every seat in the stadium.5
• Shortly before each game begins, an announcement encourages the fans to cheer for the team. (Captioned on the LED ribbon boards) • Prior to the game, an emergency evacuation video with audio is shown on the JumboTrons. (Open captioned on the JumboTrons)
• After each play during the game, an announcement states the type of play, names of the key players involved in the play, the number of yards gained or lost, the yard line at which the ball was spotted after the play, and the number of yards remaining until first down.6 (Captioned on the LED ribbon boards)
• The public address system also informs the crowd of the two minute warning and when each quarter has ended. (Captioned on the LED ribbon boards)
• During the game, the referee explains penalties over the public address system and uses hand signals to identify penalties.7 (Captioned on the LED ribbon boards)
• When cheerleaders take the field during halftime and breaks in game play, they are announced over the public address system. (Captioned on the LED ribbon boards)
• Announcements regarding check presentations and other non-musical entertainment are broadcast over the public address system during breaks and halftime. (Captioned on the LED ribbon boards)
• The public address system broadcasts advertisements and public service announcements, which occasionally have accompanying video displayed on the JumboTrons. (Captioned on the LED ribbon boards or open captioned on the JumboTrons)
• On occasion, the public address system broadcasts the scores of other football games. (Captioned on the LED ribbon boards)
• After each game, the public address system announces that the game is over; informs the crowd of the final score; and states the date, time, and opponent for the next home game. (Captioned on the LED ribbon boards)
• In the event of emergency, the public address system can be used to provide necessary information to the crowd.8 (Captioned on the LED ribbon boards)
• During halftime and breaks in game play, music with lyrics is occasionally broadcast over the public address system. This music includes musical performances and music played during other entertainment routines. With the exception of the Star Spangled Banner and Hail to the Redskins,9 music with lyrics is not captioned at FedExField.
The concourses levels of the stadium contain approximately 150 televisions. Half of these televisions display the JumboTron video feed. The other half of these televisions are marked with a green dot. Stadium staff are directed to ensure that, on game day, any television monitor with a green dot is both closed captioned enabled and tuned to the network broadcast of the Redskins game. Concessionaires are directed not to change any settings on the green dot television monitors. This practice allows deaf and hard of hearing fans access to play-by-play coverage of the game while they are away from their seats.
A local radio station, "Red Zebra," is broadcast in the concourse area of the stadium. Local commentators Sonny Jurgenson and Sam Huff, and Redskins vice president Larry Michael, provide play-byplay commentary on Red Zebra. FedEx-Field does not caption the Red Zebra broadcast.
Plaintiffs filed this action on August 31, 2006. Following nearly a year of failed settlement discussions, Defendants filed an Answer on August 15, 2007. Following the close of discovery, the parties filed the...
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