NC preacher takes on theater chain over disability access

PAUL WILLIAMS III | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Bishop William Barber, a nationally known civil rights leader and North Carolina resident, is suing AMC Theaters for allegedly denying access to a Greenville, N.C. theater in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Civil rights activist Bishop William Barber II is suing a national theater company for discriminating against his disability.

Barber, co-chair of the National Poor People’s campaign, filed a federal lawsuit last month against AMC Theaters after he was removed from its movie house in Greenville, North Carolina, for using a specialized chair necessary to accommodate a spinal condition.

Barber, who has ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis that causes inflammation in the spine’s joints and ligaments, met with AMC CEO Adam Aron in January 2024 to discuss theater management’s actions, which resulted in a call to local law enforcement to remove Barber. The suit alleges AMC’s actions violate the Americans With Disabilities Act and seeks an injunction blocking the theater from expelling or retaliating against him or other disabled people.

“This isn’t about me,” Barber said in a statement. “This is about corporations like AMC who think they can treat people anyway they want and get away with it. It’s about every man, woman and child who faces pain and physical obstacles every single day and the CEOs who couldn’t care less.

“One voice alone may just be shouting to the wind. But we’re not alone and, together, we can tear down the walls of Jericho.”

According to the lawsuit, Barber was attending a showing of “The Color Purple” with his 90-year-old mother at the AMC Fire Tower 12 theater on Dec. 26, 2023, when theater staff confronted him about using a specialized chair necessary due to his medical condition. According to the lawsuit, theater staff threatened to called police and, threatening trespassing charges, had him escorted from the theater.

“Rev. Barber was subjected to this horrific injustice all because AMC employees refused to allow Rev. Barber to bring a chair that he utilizes to cope with his pain and debilitating disability, ankylosing spondylitis,” the suit reads. “The ability to use the chair with an elevated seat base is vital. Due to his disability, Rev. Barber is unable to sit in normal chairs or seating and needs this particular type of chair to alleviate his pain. AMC required that he prove that he was disabled, with a doctor’s note, before they would allow him to sit in their theater with his chair.”

Civil rights attorney Harry Daniels, who represents Barber, said in a statement: “AMC Theaters didn’t treat Bishop Barber like a man in pain or even like an honest American. They treated him like a criminal and used local law enforcement like paid thugs even though they were the ones breaking the law. We’re not here for coffee and conversation. We want action, not empty apologies.”

Barber, a nationally known civil rights and economic equity activist, is founder and president of Repairers of the Breach and former chair of the North Carolina NAACP. He is also founding director and professor at Yale’s Center for Public Theology and Public Policy.

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