Totally Agree!
People read so much into everything ! Give me a break

I said “reasonable” accommodations. This is all that is required by law. The staff is allowed to make assumptions based on the information they have at that time. Employers have to be able to make a quick decision. They did just that with no malice.

This was in no way an act of unconscious bias on part of this theatre’s management staff. You are buying to to what the EvilHRLady is trying to inflame. This was purely a decision based on the safety all guests in the building at the time and the fact there was not prior communication with the staff. Would you expect to show up a restaurant with 140 people and expect they would be able to accommodate you? No, so don’t make these managers and staff at the theatre out to be the bad guys for doing the best the could for all involved.

Thanks for your response which explained my reaction better but I didn’t phrase it so decidedly. As with any large group, a pre-arrangement has to made in advance. This story reminded me of what happens when a bus loaded with people pulls in to a parking lot of a fast-food restaurant without pre-notice. Not everyone will be happy about the accommodations and service.

The article states that their were the appropriate number of counselors per camper. What you don’t realize as with any retail store, restaurant, movie theatre, etc that the management team is responsible for the safety of all the campers as well as all the other guests in the building when this occurred. It is totally irrelevant the number of staff that were present per camper. Regal is still responsible. If one of the guest is hurt, part of this group or any other guest, Regal would bear that responsibility. This would be the case with ANY guest in the building. Your article does not provide information if the staff was aware that the tickets were for this large group where their might be the need for special accommodations, when the tickets were bought and if the camp had ANY prior conversations with the management team of this theatre before they showed up? ANY large group of 140 that just showed up at this theatre would have had the same response from the management staff.

As with many of the articles I have read written by you in the past you are trying to inflame your opinion on what happened without all the facts. You see things black and white and things are never black and white in today’s world.

The management team in these theatres always have to weigh the risks regarding the staff and the guests in their building. ANY large group of 140 movies guests without prior knowledge of the staff would have received the same response. This was in way was a bias against this particular group.

As with many of the articles that I have read by you, your comments are very judgmental and one sided. You seem to think things are very black and white and that is not how the world works. You have no idea the responsibility that these managers deal with everyday. You need to get off your judgmental high horse. It is very clear you have never worked in the service industry or worked in HR with a company that deals with these type scenarios everyday. Until you do you have absolutely no right to pass your holier than thou judgement on the staff at this theatre or Regal.

Your trying make this staff out to be bias just because this group happened to be special needs. It had nothing to do with unconscious bias and was simply a risk management decision based on the size of the group. I also doubt that the group was “thrown out”. I am sure there multiple other options offered to the group but because they were not happy with them they decided to blast this story to everyone.

Regal has a long history of accommodations for both guests and employees with disabilities. They have programs with their movies to accommodate guests with disabilities as well as hiring a large number of employees with disabilities. Get off your high horse and get your facts straight before you state your opinion of this one situation which you DID NOT personally witness first hand so you have no way of knowing.

HR professionals with your morale superiority and judgement are the reason employees hate HR professionals. I would HATE to work for the company were you were part of the HR staff.

The biggest change we had to work out was with the MHMR Adult Group. During the school year they had started coming on our Free Day after spring break. When summer was approaching I had a meeting. It was decided that their staff would come in the first summer free day to evaluate the situation.

They decided the fact the number of kids was 3X more and the noise level was so high it wasn’t good for their clients. I talked to my boss and offered to let them come in for free on Wednesday instead. The ONLY complaint we got was that the MHMR staff and clients were not there on Tuesday/Free Day and the kids missed them.

The point of the article is that even when people think they are being kind or fair, their unconscious biases may lead to harmful outcomes. In this case, the staff was worried about ‘liability’, which means they were making assumptions about ‘disabled kids’ that might not be true. For example, above someone suggested that in case of emergency this group might have a harder time exiting the building quickly. But that is not necessarily true. With so many staff and parents, this group could very well be much more calm and orderly than a typical group of kids with fewer adults. Staff didn’t intend to be mean, but their decision, based on their own assumptions and not facts, was harmful to the kids.

Not condoning the theaters action, but I think if some advance communication happened between the camp and the theater, plans could have been worked out so that everyone was accommodated.