The National Association of the Deaf, Western Massachusetts Association of the Deaf and Hearing Impaired, and a deaf Massachusetts resident belonging to both organizations, brought this case under the Americans with Disabilities Act against Netflix. The plaintiffs alleged that by failing to provide closed captioned text to its on-demand movie and television streaming service known as "Watch Instantly," Netflix failed to provided full and equal access to the deaf and hard of hearing. The lawsuit was filed June 16, 2011 in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The plaintiffs, represented by the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund and private co-counsel, sought declaratory relief, an injunction requiring Netflix to provide effective communication through closed captioning and easy identification of captioned content, and attorney's fees and costs.

On November 11, 2011, the court (Judge Michael A. Ponsor) denied the defendant's Motion to Dismiss, because the FCC did not have primary jurisdiction over the case and Netflix's arguments that the there was not a ripe complaint and actual injury were not persuasive. Additionally, the court found Netflix's argument that the case be dismissed or transferred because of a similar case pending in the Northern District of California unpersuasive. 2011 WL 5519883.

On June 19, 2012, Judge Michael A. Posner denied Netflix’s motion for judgement on the pleadings. 869 F.Supp.2d 196. The court rejected Netflix’s argument that the Watch Instantly website was not a place of public accommodation covered by the ADA and agreed with the plaintiffs that the website fell within multiple ADA categories, such as “service establishment,” “place of exhibition or entertainment,” and “rental establishment.” The court also determined that the plaintiffs adequately pled that Netflix owns and operates the Watch Instantly website, the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act complemented not supplanted, the ADA, and the new FCC regulation on captioning did not render plaintiffs’ claim moot.

The parties entered into settlement negotiations and submitted a settlement to the district court for its approval on October 10, 2012. Under the settlement, Netflix agreed to provide closed captions on 100% of its streaming content within two years and to improve its interface so that subscribers could more easily identify content that was captioned. Additionally, Netflix agreed to provide training to customer service representatives on handling questions about captioning issues.

The announcement of the settlement explained that Netflix began its closed-captioning program in 2010 and increased captioning for 90% of the hours viewed. Captions were displayed on a majority of the more than 1,000 devices on which the service was available. The court maintained jurisdiction of the case for four years to assure compliance with the terms of the decree, and the plaintiffs monitored Netflix's progress. Netflix agreed to pay $795,000 for past and future attorneys fees and costs, including monitoring costs. The case is now closed.

Denise Heberle - 10/10/2012
Emily Kempa - 02/21/2019


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