After reading the letter from the Vice President of SunStar Theatres, I concluded that Mr. Kaufman had provided no concrete assurances that my three reasonable remedial suggestions would be met. His understanding that I was “refused entry . . . because (I) had a backpack” shows that he was clearly unaware of what happened in his business on that day. My wife and I purchased tickets, entered, and were explicitly thrown out of the premises in a disturbing, disruptive, and gratuitous flaunting of oppressive authority in full view of patrons and employees because I had a small fanny pack containing orange juice and glucose tablets to manage my diabetes.

I subsequently wrote to my USDOJ contact person, Ms. R., in an e-mail:

<<e-mail to Ms. R. at USDOJ>>

9 November 2007

Re: Complaint

Dear Ms. R.:

Please be advised of my receipt yesterday of a correspondence (see attachment) from Barney Kaufman, V. Pres., of SunStar Theatres, LLC. As it applies to my complaint regarding the alleged violation of the ADA by SunStar Theatres and Vicky McGee, the letter is wholly unsatisfactory and unacceptable as a resolution to this issue.

In my complaint to the Department of Justice dated 10 October 2005, my suggestions for remedy included the following:

· Training or retraining all employees of SunStar Theatres Naples, LLC to become familiar with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act

· A current copy of the ADA Title III Technical Assistance Manual covering Public Accommodations will at all times be kept on the premises of SunStar Theatres Naples, LLC

· Signed letters, to my wife and me, from 1) the owners and/or officers of SunStar Theatres Naples, LLC and, separately, 2) Ms. McGee, wherein each acknowledges their violation of the ADA and Ms. McGee’s intemperate and unnecessary treatment of paying customers, and also wherein each affirms a prompt and thorough reevaluation of their policies and practices in order to identify and correct any and all inconsistencies with the requirements of the ADA.

None of these reasonable suggestions have been satisfied. Although Mr. Kaufman makes reference to “new guidelines as per the enclosed letter for our managers and employees,” no such enclosure accompanied his letter to me. I am left to wonder if such vague “new guidelines” include employee training pertinent to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

No mention of an ADA Title III Technical Assistance Manual was made.

Mr. Kaufman’s letter failed to acknowledge any violation of the ADA, the forceful, uncalled for treatment of my wife and me, and a thorough reevaluation of policies and practices to comply with the ADA. Mr. Kaufman’s letter, in fact, contains no mention at all of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Also, while Mr. Kaufman included a handwritten directive to “Vicky” at the bottom of his letter to me, the requested separate letter of similar acknowledgment from Ms. McGee has yet to arrive.

The content of the letter I received yesterday indicates that Mr. Kaufman is not fully aware of the events that led to Ms. McGee’s unwarranted ADA violation in her humiliating dismissal of two cooperative, paying customers on 9 September 2005. While I understand it to be in good faith, Mr. Kaufman’s offer of free movie passes is of no substance in satisfying this complaint.

I will consider this matter closed when all of the above listed reasonable requests have been fulfilled. Thank you for your attention in bringing this case to an acceptable conclusion.

Sincerely,

<<End of e-mail to USDOJ>>

A little more than a week later, I called the DOJ, and was told that the complaint is being closed because Mr. Kaufman was deemed to have provided sufficient substantiation of policy adjustments at his theater that would ostensibly prevent a similar situation from recurring.

That is a wonderful thing. But when I brought up the three reasonable remedial suggestions that I had taken considerable time to research, I was provided no concrete written assurance from Mr. Kaufman indicating that his vague allusion to “new guidelines” (if indeed any had truly been written) would be based on anything in the actual Americans with Disabilities Act.

Strike one.

There would be no requirement that an ADA Title III Technical Assistance Manual covering Public Accommodations be kept at the theater for reference.

Strike two.

Finally, I was told by my USDOJ contact person that no business owner is ever going to voluntarily admit to a violation of civil rights under the ADA.

Strike three.

I anticipated as much. Nancy often tells me that if I keep my expectations low, I will never be disappointed, and that’s the somewhat cynical perspective I took on this whole ball of wax from the start.

In a couple of days, I’ll conclude this series with some final thoughts on private enterprise, consumers’ rights, and the laws that we think are designed to help us.