A mom is suing a New Jersey movie theater after experiencing a horrific incident there. She had taken her 15-year-old son, who has autism, to use the women's restroom with her. She usually uses a family restroom, or, if her husband is present, he will accompany their son to the men's restroom.
But because there was no family restroom at that movie theater, and her husband was not with them at the time, she made the decision to escort her son to the ladies' room. She shared that he was harassed by an employee shortly after.
The incident occurred on June 16, 2023. Christine Gallinaro took her son to see Elemental at his favorite movie theater, Cinemark Hazlet 12. But when her son had to use the restroom, things took a turn for the worse.
"My son can, to a certain degree, function [in the bathroom] but he needs supervision due to his motor-planning skills and spatial awareness," Christine shared. "Nobody has ever given me a hard time about it because I am with him the whole time." But that wasn't the case this time.
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She had escorted her son to the women's restroom, and he used the bathroom and washed his hands. She stood at the door observing the entire time. While he was finishing up, a female employee walked in. "She brushed by me, quickly and aggressively to be inches within my son," Christine explained "I said, 'Is there a problem?' and she answered, 'He should not be in here.'"
The lawsuit claims that the employee came "within markedly close proximity" of the teen, and said something along the lines of, "A grown man or boy should not be in a women's bathroom." When the furious mom asked to speak to a supervisor, the employee replied, "This is not a transgender bathroom,” and told them to leave the theater.
At some point, the employee walked away and security guards approached the mother and teen. "I felt ganged up on and cornered," she said. After she started recording the conversation on her phone, the guards allowed them to go back into the theater to finish their movie. But by that time, Christine's son was begging to go home, so they walked out. On their way out the door, they were met by police officers. After brief conversation, they went home.
"The message sent to my son was that he did something horribly wrong by using the bathroom," Christine said. "He was humiliated and traumatized. He is still apologizing to this day." The lawsuit says that her son is scared to use the bathroom at home, has difficulty sleeping, and refuses to go back to that theater.
"Children with disabilities are already dealing with trauma," she explained. "To have to hear your mom publicly defend your bathroom use adds more layers." Representatives of Cinemark and the local police department have not yet responded to requests for comments.
The family's attorney, Armen McOmber, believes that Cinemark should take accountability for its actions. "You can't deny a disabled child or adult (or anyone from a protected class) the same rights and privileges to public accommodations — if there is no family bathroom, what option did Christine have?"
The mom hopes that the theater makes the situation right. "I would love a formal apology from Cinemark to my son. If my son chooses to return, I'd want him welcomed back by Cinemark. And I want to see more family bathrooms."
