PHILADELPHIA - A federal judge won't change a jury's finding that Black individuals weren't discriminated against at SeaWorld's Sesame Place Philadelphia, in a case that alleged characters like Elmo ignored them and had jurors wearing a Big Bird head.
Judge Wendy Beetlestone on Jan. 17 refused a motion for reconsideration from the plaintiffs, who also alleged white families were served food faster than Black families. A jury previously ruled for SeaWorld, after Beetlestone herself tossed claims over the wait in a food line.
SeaWorld sufficiently offered evidence at trial to show its Sesame Place characters didn't intentionally ignore Black visitors, despite not calling the actors as witnesses. It did so by showing jurors firsthand how hard it is to see anyone - let alone their race - out of the costume heads.
"SeaWorld presented physical evidence in the form of character heads worn by the costumed characters which heads each juror was permitted to try on (in the case of Bird Bird - the jurors went on a field trip to Sesame Place during which each of them got into the Big Bird costume such that they could see what an actor playing the character could see)..." Beetlestone said.
As for Sesame Place employees who could see and cut meet-and-greet sessions before Black families got a chance to participate, SeaWorld showed policies that impose time limits for those sessions are designed to ensure the health and safety of Elmo and his pals.
The case began on Father's Day 2022, when Quinton Burns took his child to Sesame Place. While there, he says Elmo, Ernie, Telly Monster and Abby Cadabby ignored them.
He filed a proposed class action lawsuit a month later, but a class was never certified. Beetlestone dismissed some of the earlier claims but let others move forward. Martell Harris of The Trial Law Firm in Pittsburgh represented the plaintiffs, along with Jason Duncan of Harrisburg and the firm Murphy Falcon & Murphy in Baltimore.
The defendants are represented by Leigh Michael Skipper, Aleksander W. Smolij, John M. Simpson, Michelle Pardo, Rebecca Bazan and Joseph K. West of Duane Morris, in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Plaintiffs Lauren Willie and L.W. moved for a new trial on their claim for slow food service at Rosita's Cocina after their party of 11 guests waited about 30 minutes to receive several orders of food. Beetlestone had rejected this argument at the close of trial.
They argued SeaWorld brought no cafeteria employees to refute the discrimination accusations.
"Plaintiffs do not couch their argument in the language of Rule 59 or the many cases in this Circuit that have carefully analyzed that rule," Beetlestone wrote. "Nor do Plaintiffs cite any caselaw whatsoever in the body of their argument.
"Instead, Plaintiffs submit four disjointed sentences and ask the Court to fill in the blanks. This is reason enough to deny their Motion as improperly presented."