Assistive Listening Knowledge Base
  • Regulatory enforcement (settlement agreement)

Settlement Agreement between the United States of America and the Newseum, Inc., including Appendix 1 (DJ 202-16-190)

From https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/doj-2013-newseum-settlement/ · record checked 13 October 2026

  • US Department of Justice; Newseum, Inc.
  • US Department of Justice

Government (US Department of Justice enforcement agreement with the museum)

Summary

A Washington, DC museum settlement required listening systems, specified receiver numbers and hearing-aid compatibility, signs, maintenance, management training and reporting.

Key findings

  • The agreement took effect on the last signature, 6 December 2013. It resolved a Title III review of the Newseum in Washington, DC, without litigation or admission of liability. DOJ found missing assistive listening systems among wider access failures.
  • Appendix 1, items 66-68, requires systems and at least two receivers, both hearing-aid compatible, in each of the three 47-seat orientation theatres and the 47-seat Sports Theater. Each also needed availability signs.
  • Appendix 1, item 76, requires at least three receivers, two hearing-aid compatible, in the 55-seat Internet, TV, Radio Theater; item 77 requires at least five, two hearing-aid compatible, in the 120-seat Big Screen Theater. Both required systems and signs.
  • Paragraphs 22-23 require accessible equipment to remain operational and the appendix remedies to be completed within twelve months. The agreement also requires an officer responsible for access and complaints, a complaint-resolution policy, training for supervisors and managers, and annual progress reports.
  • Paragraph 27 places supervisor and manager training under the access officer’s direction. Paragraph 28 requires reports to document completed revisions, employee-training dates and content, and adopted access policies. The last report is due three months before expiry; reporting can end earlier if the museum demonstrates full completion and DOJ accepts it.
  • The agreement requires a $15,000 payment to the US Treasury for the overall matter. It does not apportion that sum to assistive listening.
  • The investigation used the 1991 Standards, while the agreement says the 2010 Standards govern remedial actions. The term was three years unless extended.

Limits

A negotiated, venue-specific agreement covering many barriers. Its receiver examples are historical terms for specified rooms, not a universal percentage. The agreement and full Appendix 1 were read; later implementation reports were not obtained. The monetary payment cannot be attributed solely to listening-system failures.

Read the original

archive.ada.gov/newseum/newseum-sa.htm

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Cited in

Cite this source

US Department of Justice; Newseum, Inc. Settlement Agreement between the United States of America and the Newseum, Inc., including Appendix 1 (DJ 202-16-190). US Department of Justice. 6 December 2013. https://archive.ada.gov/newseum/newseum-sa.htm (accessed 13 October 2026).

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