BURNS v. SEAWORLD PARKS & ENTERTAINMENT, INC., et al

Track this case

Case overview

Case Number:

2:22-cv-02941

Court:

Pennsylvania Eastern

Nature of Suit:

Civil Rights: Other

Multi Party Litigation:

Class Action

Judge:

WENDY BEETLESTONE

Firms

Companies

Sectors & Industries:

  1. September 18, 2024

    Pa. Jury Clears SeaWorld-Owned Park In Race Bias Trial

    A Pennsylvania jury on Wednesday freed SeaWorld's Philadelphia-area park Sesame Place of claims that minority children endured discrimination by costumed performers who were accused of ignoring them during character parades.

  2. July 17, 2024

    SeaWorld Says Dad Ousted From Bias Case Contradicts Attys

    Counsel for parents and children alleging that costumed performers at SeaWorld-owned theme park Sesame Place snubbed them booted a dad from the case as a way to buy time for more preparation, contradicting his lawyers' claims that he was forced from the case for making a deliberately incorrect deposition statement, the park's corporate owner alleged in a new court filing.

  3. July 02, 2024

    Depo Gets Dad Ousted From Sesame Place Race Bias Case

    The father of a child who was allegedly snubbed by costumed performers at a Pennsylvania theme park has been removed from consolidated race bias litigation after plaintiffs' counsel said the father had lied during a deposition, with a Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday granting a bid by other families to sever their case from his.

  4. May 07, 2024

    Atty Dons Muppet Head To Open Sesame Place Race Bias Trial

    A federal jury in Philadelphia on Tuesday gazed at the googly eyes and blue fur of an attorney who donned the head of Sesame Street's Grover to tell them that performers wearing the fluorescent bodysuits of other beloved Muppets discriminated against children at a Pennsylvania theme park because of the color of their skin.

  5. April 15, 2024

    SeaWorld's Sesame Park Visitors Can't Get Cert. In Bias Fight

    A Pennsylvania federal judge refused Monday to certify a class of Hispanic and Black customers who allege performers at the SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Inc.-owned theme park Sesame Place discriminated against and ignored minority children, finding that the proposed 130 children class size is based on inadmissible speculation.

  6. January 17, 2024

    SeaWorld Backs Summary Judgment To End Sesame Place Bias Suit

    Philadelphia-based theme park Sesame Place's parent company, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Inc., has told a Pennsylvania federal judge that summary judgment is the only option for a putative class action alleging the park's performers ignored minority children who tried to get their attention.

  7. November 20, 2023

    Sea World Must Produce Social Media Policy Info In Bias Suit

    A federal judge has ordered Philadelphia-based theme park Sesame Place's parent company, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Inc., to produce materials on its park policies and any employee social media rules in response to class action claims that costumed characters at Sesame Place refused to interact with minority children.

  8. July 17, 2023

    Pennsylvania Cases To Watch In 2023: A Midyear Report

    A record-setting medical malpractice verdict, litigation over mail-in ballot envelopes, alleged racial discrimination by Sesame Place characters and COVID-19 coverage lawsuits have made for some of the most high-profile cases in Pennsylvania so far this year.

  9. June 05, 2023

    Sesame Place Sheds Negligence Claims In Race Bias Suit

    A federal judge trimmed some of the negligence claims from a proposed class action alleging that costumed character actors at the Sesame Place theme park outside Philadelphia refused to interact with minority children, but allowed the broader discrimination suit to move ahead Monday.

  10. April 28, 2023

    Class In Race Bias Suit Ill-Defined, Sesame Place Park Says

    SeaWorld-owned Sesame Place in suburban Philadelphia told a federal judge Thursday that a putative class in a suit claiming park performers ignored minority children in favor of white children who wanted to meet their favorite characters was too vaguely-defined and that the case must be thrown out.