Bishop Barber is suing AMC Theaters after a confrontation at the Greenville location

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – A civil rights activist is suing a popular movie theater chain after he says he was discriminated against because of his disability at a location here in Eastern Carolina.

Bishop William Barber II and his attorney Harry Daniels announced Thursday during a news conference in Raleigh that they are taking AMC Theaters to court after Barber said he was wrongfully kicked out of the Greenville location on Fire Tower Road the day after Christmas last year been escorted.

“He was embarrassed, defamed, accused of committing a crime and was the victim of a terrible injustice at the hands of the AMC Theater employees,” Daniels said.

Barber said he hoped to spend a warm day with his 90-year-old mother watching “The Color Purple” when theater staff deemed his special chair, used for Barber’s serious spinal condition, a fire hazard.

“Seeing the film back then is an experience I can never give her,” Barber said.

Barber says he suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis that causes inflammation in the joints and ligaments of the spine.

Greenville police were called to eject Barber from the theater, an incident that Barber believes violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

“I told them I couldn’t go. “My gut, my heart, my character, my commitment to justice will not allow me to leave this room when I know I have a legal and moral right to do so,” Barber said.

Barber, a former NAACP president and civil rights activist from North Carolina, said he met with AMC’s chairman and CEO just days after the event.

Although Barber said he does not expect any financial gain from the lawsuit, he is seeking more than $25,000 in damages for two separate counts of mental and emotional distress. He also hopes that this will bring justice to all people who have felt harmed because of their disability.

“Whatever your disability, you may be disabled, but you are not defective,” Barber said. “You are as much a part of this human family as anyone else.”

Daniels said he and Barber have had no contact with AMC since the lawsuit was filed Thursday morning.

Barber is also seeking an injunction barring AMC from denying him access to his chair at all AMC locations and from retaliating against him and others for exercising their rights.

WITN also reached out to AMC Theaters for comment, but we have not received a response.

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