coffguy Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 A man was denied access to SFOT's Aquaman for not having fully formed hands. Clint Bench was born with with a congenital deformity that prevented his arms from fully forming. That didn’t stop him from going to college, getting married, having children or from riding roller coasters at Six Flags Over Texas. He’s ridden the other rides at the park: Batman, the Texas Giant, the Flashback and his limbs had never been an issue. Bench can do pullups, fire a gun and go mountain biking, but last May he got on the Aquaman Splashdown ride, a Six Flags standby in which a boat plummets down a two-story decline before sending up a wall of water that soaks riders and the onlookers on the bridge below. There’s nothing particularly dangerous about Aquaman compared with the amusement park’s other attractions, certainly nothing Bench couldn’t handle, but nevertheless, a Six Flag employee asked Bench to get off the ride because of his lack of hands. “She told him that he could not ride Aquaman because he does not have hands,” the man said in a lawsuit filed Thursday. “This caused [him] considerable embarrassment, as his children had never seen anybody discriminate against him due to his lack of natural hands.” He complained to management and was told that it’s park policy that riders “must have at least one fully formed arm all the way down to the fingers.” The policy at that time just said that a rider had to be able to grasp, which the man can do. The new policy reportedly wasn’t published until four months later. Bench claims discrimination under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Six Flags doesn’t, after all, kick people off rides who, “for extra thrill or in a silly display of bravado,” keep their hands in the air. Bench is asking for unspecified damages for suffering and mental anguish. A picture of the man is in this link to the news story: www.theglobaldispatch.com/clint-bench-man-born-without-hands-suing-six-flags-after-being-asked-to-exit-aquaman-ride-28705/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zem Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 To be honest I would have to see how much of his hands he was lacking. Those splashdown rides just have a small seat belt and require you to hold on to the bar infront of you. If he could've gotten on the other rides though I don't know why they would make an big deal over this one in particular. The operator should've contacted managment and they could have sorted it out easily but if it was in the park policy before hand and was proven to be unsafe, then the park is well within its rights. Although I think it is unfair he couldn't get on the ride, I don't feel it was worth sueing over and doubt this incident caused the man "mental anguish". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 This is already being discussed in the SFoT thread. http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1278858#p1278858 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts