White Sox sued over alleged disability seating discrimination in website ticket sales

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Chicago White Sox organization is facing a lawsuit alleging ticket sales discrimination for disability accessible seating at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Two long-time Sox fans said the team refuses to sell "Americans with Disabilities Act" accessible season tickets on the team's website.

"I've been going to games my whole life," plaintiff Douglas McCormick said.

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McCormick and co-plaintiff Ralph Yaniz are frustrated. They said what used to be a simple process, is no longer the case.

"My reaction was anger," Yaniz said. "All we want is the ability to go online and purchase seats like everyone else."

Yaniz and McCormick said ADA accessible season tickets can't be purchased online. They said they were told to call when only a limited amount of season tickets are made available over the phone.

"From my perspective, what needs to change is really a simple change," Yaniz said. "The White Sox have the seats available. It's not a matter of reconfiguring the stadium or building something different."

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They are demanding through the lawsuit that the team offer season tickets for wheelchair accessible seats on its website and all other methods of ticket purchase.

"Go back to the old system. Where you could go online," McCormick said. "I would be able to go online a couple hours before the game, you hit the filter button, you could see what's accessible, you could buy your ticket and you go to the game. It was an easy system. Don't know what changed or why they changed it. But it has changed."

The two said even single game tickets were impacted, with only a small percentage of accessible seats listed for sale.

"Last year I went to 40 games," McCormick said. "This year, I think I went to ten games."

The White Sox provided a statement Wednesday addressing the lawsuit.

"We are disappointed by this lawsuit as the White Sox always hope to accommodate the needs of all our fans at the ballpark," the statement read. "The White Sox comply with all legal requirements and provide significant accessible seating at our games for our guests. We strongly believe that White Sox baseball is for everyone."

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The plaintiffs said they have not been able to get into contact with the White Sox about their complaint.

"I think for me, it's very difficult to hear that, because we've attempted over and over to reach out to them just so they can sit down and listen to the concerns," Yaniz said. "How can you fix the concerns when you don't even listen to what they are?"

Yaniz and McCormick said this lawsuit isn't about money. They're not asking for any monetary damages. They said they simply want to buy tickets the same as other fans.