BENTON HARBOR, MI -- A deaf man and a national association are suing the chain that owns a Benton Harbor movie theater because it does not provide captioning for people who are deaf and hard of hearing.

In a lawsuit filed Aug. 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Graham Forsey of St. Joseph and the Maryland-based National Association of the Deaf allege Loeks Theatres Inc., also known as Celebration! Cinema, discriminates against people who are deaf or hard of hearing by not displaying captions at its movie theater in Benton Harbor.

The suit alleges Forsey, who is deaf, has repeatedly requested that Loeks provide captioning for movies in its Benton Harbor theater. Equipment exists to provide captioning either on-screen or through an individual caption display system, according to the lawsuit, and it is offered in theaters elsewhere.

Without closed captioning, the plaintiffs are "unable to understand the dialogue and soundtrack of the movies," the suit says.

The complaint alleges the theater hasn't taken steps to ensure individuals with disabilities aren't excluded, denied services, segregated or treated differently and that it is discriminating through its absence of captioning.

The lawsuit seeks a court order that the theater display captioning for all of its movies, train employees about the rights of people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and not implement any policy, procedure or practice that denies people who are deaf or hard of hearing equal opportunity to participate in the theater's offerings.

The suit also seeks monetary damages for Forsey and attorney fees.

Loeks has not yet filed an answer to the lawsuit.