United States v. Amc Entertainment

I. BACKGROUND

A. Stadium Seating

In the mid-1990s, stadium seating in movie theaters revolu- tionized the way Americans viewed movies. Rather than cramming seats together on a sloped floor, causing movie- goers to be at the mercy of a taller patron choosing the seat in front of them, the staggered elevation of stadium seating “virtually suspend[ed] the moviegoer in front of the wall-to- wall screen.” Along with the other major theater companies, AMC constructed scores of theaters nationwide employing the new layout. Promoting its theaters, AMC invited the pub- lic to “Experience the Difference.” The Department of Justice claimed that one group could not: the disabled.

The first iteration of stadium-seating theaters, initially con- structed by AMC in 1995, posed a particular problem for wheelchair-bound patrons. These complexes offered a hybrid of traditional sloped floor seating closest to the screen and sta- UNITED STATES v. AMC ENTERTAINMENT, INC. 15941 dium seating accessible by stairs. Moviegoers would enter the theater in the front, right under the screen. Once entering, patrons would first have the option (rarely, if ever, taken) of sitting in the few rows of…