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SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
This Settlement Agreement ("Agreement") is entered into by and
between the following parties: American Council of the Blind ("ACB"),
California Council of the Blind ("CCB"), Bay State Council of the Blind
("BSCB") (collectively, "Claimants") and MLB Advanced Media, L.P.
("MLBAM") for the purposes and on the terms specified herein and
operates in conjunction with the Confidential Addendum to this
Agreement.
RECITALS
This Agreement is based on the following facts:
- A.
- ACB is a non-profit corporation that provides advocacy services in
the United States on behalf of individuals who are blind or visually
impaired, is dedicated to promoting the full integration of persons who
are blind or have visual impairments into all aspects of society, and
provides information to the general public about the accomplishments,
needs and contributions of persons who are blind or visually impaired.
BSCB is ACB’s Massachusetts affiliate serving the needs of blind and
visually impaired persons throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
CCB is ACB’s California affiliate serving the needs of blind and
visually-impaired persons throughout the State of California. Among
ACB’s, BSCB’s and CCB’s board, staff and members, and those on whose
behalf they advocate and provide services, are many individuals with
visual disabilities who seek to access to www.mlb.com and Club Sites.
ACB is incorporated in Washington D.C., and has its place of business
in Arlington, Virginia. BSCB is incorporated and has its place of
business in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. CCB is incorporated and
has its place of business in the State of California.
- B.
- MLBAM is the Internet and interactive media company of Major League
Baseball. MLBAM manages and operates the official league site,
www.MLB.com, and each of the official Major League Baseball Club sites
(e.g., www.mets.com and www.redsox.com).
- C.
- A dispute has arisen between Claimants and MLBAM concerning whether
MLB.com and the Club Sites are and are legally required to be
accessible to Persons with Visual Impairments ("Web Accessibility
Dispute" or "the Dispute").
- D.
- On or about July 2, 2008, Claimants notified the MLBAM about the
Dispute and offered to engage in Structured Negotiations, in lieu of
litigation, to resolve the Dispute. In September 2008, the parties
executed a Structured Negotiations Agreement to protect the interests
of all parties during those negotiations. Since executing that
agreement, the parties have engaged in good faith negotiations and
shared relevant information regarding the Dispute. The parties now
enter into this Agreement in order to resolve the Dispute and to avoid
the burden, expense, and risk of potential litigation. By entering into
this Agreement, MLBAM does not admit, and specifically denies, that it
is subject to or has violated or failed to comply with any provisions
of the ADA, any applicable laws of any state relating to accessibility
for persons with disabilities, any regulations or guidelines
promulgated pursuant to those statutes, or any other applicable laws,
regulations, or legal requirements. Neither this Agreement, nor any of
its terms or provisions, nor any of the negotiations connected with it,
shall be construed as an admission or concession by MLBAM of any such
violation or failure to comply with any applicable law, or that the ADA
or any other state law relating to accessibility applies to MLBAM. This
Agreement and its terms and provisions, including all Exhibits, shall
not be offered or received as evidence for any purpose whatsoever
against MLBAM in any action or proceeding, other than a proceeding to
enforce the terms of this Agreement and the Confidential Addendum
executed herewith.
NOW, THEREFORE, the parties hereby agree to the following provisions:
1. Definitions.
As used in this Agreement, the following terms shall be as defined below:
- 1.1.
- All-Star Voting means the system available to the public to select
members of the MLB All-Star teams that will play in the annual MLB
All-Star game.
- 1.2.
- Alternative Audio Stream means non-English radio feeds of select games streamed over the Internet.
- 1.3.
- Claimants’ Counsel means Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen &
Dardarian and Law Office of Lainey Feingold, and the attorneys
practicing law therein.
- 1.4.
- Club Site means the official website of a Major League Baseball team that contains the url www.mlb.com.
- 1.5.
- Effective Date means December 31, 2009.
- 1.6.
- GameDay Audio means the subscription service, offered by MLBAM that
enables subscribers to listen to radio feeds of Major League Baseball
games over the Internet streamed via the MLB.com Platform.
-
1.7.
- MLB.Com and www.mlb.com mean the official website of Major League
Baseball. For purposes of this Agreement, MLB.com does not include
shop.mlb.com, auction.mlb.com, forums.mlb.com, clubmlb.com,
mlbpaa.mlb.com, mlblogs.com, mlbplayers.com, webpages that MLBAM does
not operate or control, or any webpage that does not contain the url
mlb.com.
- 1.8.
- MLB.com Homepage means the web page at http://mlb.com.
- 1.9.
- MLB.com Platform shall mean the MLB.com video and audio players
that both: a) originate on MLB.com or a Club Site, and b) MLBAM
controls and operates.
- 1.10.
- MLB.TV means the subscription service, offered by MLBAM that
enables subscribers to watch and listen to telecasts of Major League
Baseball games over the Internet streamed via the MLB.com Platform.
- 1.11.
- Person or Persons with Visual Impairments means any person who has
a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits him or her in
the major life activity of seeing.
- 1.12.
- Reasonable Efforts means, with respect to a given obligation, the
efforts that a reasonable entity in MLBAM’s position would use to
perform that obligation. An obligation to use Reasonable Efforts under
this Agreement does not require MLBAM to: (a) take any actions that
would cause MLBAM to incur an Undue Burden as defined in 28 C.F.R.
36.104 or suffer any other substantial detriment (e.g., compromise the
security of any aspect of MLB.com, forego offering a service or
product); (b) change or materially affect MLBAM’s overall business
strategy; or (c) take any action that would violate any law, order, or
contract to which MLBAM is subject.
- 1.13.
- WCAG 2.0 means the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0
promulgated by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C).
2. Duration of Agreement.
The terms of this Agreement shall remain in effect for two (2) years from the Effective Date.
3. Accessibility of www.mlb.com and Club Sites.
- 3.1. Standard for Accessibility.
- Except as otherwise provided herein, and pursuant to the time
frames specified below, MLBAM will use Reasonable Efforts to ensure
that all content on www.mlb.com and all content on the Club Sites
satisfy Level A and AA Success Criteria set forth in WCAG 2.0. The
Parties recognize that some WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA Success Criteria
address features or design elements that may not be used on www.mlb.com
or the Club Sites and in such circumstances compliance with those
Success Criteria is not required.
- 3.2. Accessibility Timeline.
-
3.2.1. July 15, 2009 Accessibility Improvements. No
later than July 15, 2009, MLBAM will use Reasonable Efforts to address
the following accessibility issues on the major webpages and indices of
www.mlb.com and the Club Sites to satisfy the relevant Level A and AA
Success Criteria set forth in WCAG 2.0:
- 3.2.1(i) Lack of page language identification;
- 3.2.1(ii) Absence of method to bypass repeated blocks of content;
- 3.2.1(iii) Images with incorrect or no text alternatives;
- 3.2.1(iv) Headings, lists data tables and paragraphs not identified using HTML code;
- 3.2.1(v) Color being used as the only visual means of conveying information;
- 3.2.1(vi) Text and background color combinations providing insufficient contrast for pages other than statistics pages;
- 3.2.1(vii) Page titles not providing enough information;
- 3.2.1(viii) Unclear link texts;
- 3.2.1(ix) Headings and labels that are not descriptive;
- 3.2.1(x) Keyboard incompatible scripting;
- 3.2.1(xi) Lack of focus order for form controls;
- 3.2.1 (xii) Text and background color combinations providing insufficient contrast for statistics pages;
- 3.2.1(xiii) Programmatically associated labels not provided for controls;
- 3.2.1(v) Text resizing that causes loss of readability and functionality; and
- 3.2.1(vi) Links and controls not usable with the Keyboard.
- 3.2.2. Additional Accessibility Improvements.
Except as set forth in Section 3.6, no later than December 31, 2009,
MLBAM will use Reasonable Efforts to remediate any additional
accessibility issues on www.mlb.com or the Club Sites that are not
specified in Sections 3.2.1, so that all content on those sites will
satisfy Level A and AA Success Criteria set forth in WCAG 2.0.
- 3.3. Provisions Regarding GameDay Audio for the 2009 Season.
- 3.3.1. Subject to Section 3.6 herein, for the 2009
Season, MLBAM will provide a Game Day Audio Player and related Media
Center that satisfies Level A and AA Success Criteria set forth in WCAG
2.0 and includes the following features and functionality: volume
control, access to home and away audio streams, access to archives, and
ability to log-into the player from the Media Center and return to the
Media Center. This player shall be referred to as the Accessible
GameDay Audio Player. The parties agree that the Game Day Audio Player
available at http://mlb.mlb.com/media/player/mpa/index.jsp as of the
Effective Date satisfies MLBAM’s obligation under this section.
- 3.3.2 Alternative Audio Streams. MLBAM will
report to Claimants at least monthly during the 2009 season on efforts
to make the Alternative Audio Streams available on the Accessible
GameDay Audio Player.
- 3.4.
- Provisions Regarding MLB GameDay Audio and MLB.TV Subscriptions for Seasons Beginning 2010.
- 3.4.1. Except as otherwise provided in this
Agreement, beginning with the 2010 baseball season, MLBAM will use
Reasonable Efforts to ensure that all radio and television streams
available to persons who purchase GameDay Audio or MLB.TV subscriptions
are delivered in a manner that satisfies Level A and AA Success
Criteria set forth in WCAG 2.0.
- 3.4.2. If MLBAM delivers radio and television
streams to the general public by means of a single integrated media
player, MLBAM will use Reasonable Efforts to ensure that the single
integrated media player, all features and functions of such player,
except multiple game viewing options (e.g., Picture-in-Picture options,
Mosaic features, etc.), and all purchase paths, login pages, and game
link pages (also referred to as Media Centers), satisfy Level A and AA
Success Criteria set forth in WCAG 2.0.
- 3.4.3. If MLBAM delivers radio and television
streams to the public by means of multiple media players, MLBAM will
use Reasonable Efforts to ensure that the primary player offered to the
general public for each type of stream, all features and functions of
such players except multiple game viewing options (e.g.,
Picture-in-Picture options, Mosaic features, etc.), and all purchase
paths, login pages, and game link pages (also referred to as Media
Centers), satisfy Level A and AA Success Criteria set forth in WCAG 2.0.
- 3.4.4. If MLBAM concludes that, despite Reasonable
Efforts, it cannot meet the requirements of Sections 3.4.1, 3.4.2 or
3.4.3, MLBAM may provide an alternative player or players, purchase
paths, login pages, and multiple game link pages for MLB.TV subscribers
and GameDay Audio Subscribers, provided that such alternatives satisfy
Level A and AA Success Criteria set forth in WCAG 2.0 and are
Conforming Alternate Versions within the meaning of WCAG 2.0.
- 3.4.5. If MLBAM determines that it will provide
alternatives pursuant to section 3.4.4, MLBAM shall notify Claimants of
its decision in writing at least 15 days prior to Opening Day. The
notification shall specify which players, features or functions or
purchase paths, login pages and multiple game link pages can and
cannot, with Reasonable Efforts, satisfy Level A and AA Success
Criteria set forth in WCAG 2.0. Five days after receipt of notification
from MLBAM, the Parties shall meet over the telephone regarding the
issues raised in the notification for that season. If the Parties do
not reach agreement on these issues and cannot mutually agree upon
MLBAM’s compliance with Section 3.4.4, the issue shall be submitted to
the Dispute Resolution Process set forth in Section 8 of this Agreement.
- 3.4.6. For the Duration of the Agreement, each
season beginning with the 2010 baseball season, MLBAM will make the
player(s) and related content designed to meet the requirements of this
Section 3.4 of the Agreement available to Claimants for testing
purposes at least 5 days before Opening Day. Claimants will provide
feedback on the player(s) and related content within two days of the
date on which the player(s) are provided for testing. MLBAM shall
consider in good faith all feedback provided by Claimants. Two days
after Claimants provide their feedback to MLBAM, the Parties shall meet
over the telephone regarding the accessibility and usability of the
features and functions of the player(s) and related content for the
coming season. If the Parties do not reach agreement on these issues
and cannot mutually agree upon the accessibility of the features and
functions of that season’s player(s) and related content, this issue
shall be submitted to the Dispute Resolution Process set forth in
Section 8 of this Agreement.
- 3.5. Provisions Regarding All-Star Voting.
- 3.5.1. Telephone-Based Voting.
- 3.5.1.(i) No later than seven days prior to the start of any
All-Star Voting during the term of this Agreement, MLBAM will notify
Claimants in writing if it plans to offer an automated telephone-based
voting method in addition to on-line voting. If a telephone voting
method is offered, Claimants will be given an opportunity to test the
telephone method within three days of the date that MLBAM provides
Claimants with notification. Any telephone-based voting method will be
automated, toll-free, available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a
week and will allow users to select among the same players for the same
positions as any web-based or print method.
- 3.5.1.(ii) Claimants will provide feedback on the telephone-based
voting system within two days of the date on which the system is
provided to Claimants for testing. MLBAM shall consider in good faith
all feedback provided by Claimants. The Parties shall meet over the
telephone regarding the accessibility and usability of the features and
functions of the telephone-based All-Star Voting and the manner in
which Persons with Visual Impairments shall be notified of the
availability of telephone-based voting. If the Parties do not reach
agreement on these issues and cannot mutually agree upon the
telephone-based voting system within five days of this telephone
meeting, this issue shall be submitted to the Dispute Resolution
Process set forth in Section 8 of this Agreement.
- 3.5.2. Web-based Voting. Except as provided
herein, prior to the start of any All-Star Voting during the Term of
this Agreement, MLBAM will use Reasonable Efforts to ensure that all
pages and content of www.mlb.com used for All-Star Voting will satisfy
level A and AA Success Criteria set forth in WCAG 2.0. If MLBAM decides
to use a visual CAPTCHA as part of All-Star Voting, the provisions of
Section 3.7 of this Agreement shall apply unless MLBAM provides for
telephone-based voting pursuant to Section 3.5.1. The All Star Ballot
will include a link to Accessibility Information page(s) on MLB.com.
- 3.6. Captions, Transcripts and Audio Description.
- During the meetings provided for in Section 6 below, at the request
of any Party, the Parties will discuss the issue of captions,
transcripts and audio description of content on www.mlb.com and the
Club Sites. If the Parties reach agreement on accessibility
modifications related to captions, transcripts or audio description on
www.mlb.com and Club Sites, that agreement will be memorialized in
writing as a further Addendum to the Agreement. In the absence of such
an Addendum, this Agreement does not require MLBAM to satisfy WCAG 2.0
Success Criteria under guideline 1.2 that relate to captions,
transcripts or audio description of audio or video content posted on
www.mlb.com or Club Sites.
- 3.7. CAPTCHAs.
- 3.7.1. Except as provided in Section 3.7.2, if any
Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans
Apart or similar visual or textual Turing or reverse-Turing
verification test (referred herein as "CAPTCHA") is used on www.mlb.com
or the Club Sites, MLBAM will use Reasonable Efforts to incorporate
alternative security measures that are usable by Persons with Visual
Impairments.
- 3.7.2. Testing of Proposed Alternatives to Visual
Verifications. Except as provided in Section 3.5.2 regarding All-Star
Voting, if MLBAM plans to include a CAPTCHA on www.mlb.com or the Club
Sites after the Effective Date, MLBAM will provide a method for
Claimants’ representatives to test the alternative security measure to
ensure that it is usable by Persons with Visual Impairments. Such
testing will occur as soon as practicable after MLBAM determines that a
CAPTCHA will be used, and MLBAM will give good faith consideration to
all feedback provided by Claimants’ representatives. Claimants shall
provide any feedback within fifteen (15) days of the testing. Any
disagreements regarding this feedback shall be submitted to the Dispute
Resolution Process set forth in Section 8 of this Agreement.
- 3.8. On-line Ticket Purchases.
- MLBAM will use Reasonable Efforts to ensure that the Purchase Paths
for sales of primary-market tickets for Major League Baseball games
satisfy Level A and AA Success Criteria set forth in WCAG 2.0. For
purposes of this Agreement, a "Purchase Path" shall mean a purchase
path that both: a) originates on MLB.com or a Club Site, and b) MLBAM
or MLBAM’s subsidiary controls and operates.
4. Accessibility Information on www.mlb.com.
- 4.1. Accessibility Information Page.
- No later than December 31, 2009, MLBAM will post an Accessibility
Information page or pages on www.mlb.com. The page(s) will include, at
a minimum, information regarding MLBAM’s efforts to meet the WCAG 2.0
Success Criteria on www.mlb.com and the Club Sites; FAQs regarding use
of the site by Persons with Visual Impairments; usability tips for
blind and visually impaired visitors to mlb.com and the Club Sites; and
a web-based or email, and telephone-based method for Persons with
Visual Impairments to contact MLBAM regarding accessibility concerns on
www.mlb.com and the Club Sites. MLBAM will provide Claimants with a
copy of the Accessibility Information page(s) prior to their being
finalized. Claimants will provide their feedback on this information
within fifteen (15) days of receipt, and MLBAM will consider the
feedback provided by Claimants in good faith.
- 4.2.
- The Accessibility Information Page will, at a minimum, be available
from a link on the following pages: MLB Home Page; low-bandwidth home
page; MLB.com Customer Support pages; media center; Accessible Media
Player log in pages; primary purchase pages for Gameday Audio and
MLB.TV; and the home pages of all of the Club Sites.
5. Training.
- 5.1. www.mlb.com Telephone Customer Service.
- MLBAM will provide training to appropriate persons staffing the
mlb.com customer service telephone number provided to the public on the
"contact" page of www.mlb.com. Such training will be designed to enable
persons being trained to assist blind and visually impaired users of
mlb.com with problems on mlb.com and the Club Sites. At a minimum, such
training will include information about the access improvements being
made to www.mlb.com and the Club Sites, FAQs related to accessibility,
how computer users with visual impairments can purchase MLB
subscriptions and locate and log-on to media players, the types of
assistive technology used by blind and visually impaired web users, and
the fact that many visually impaired computer users rely solely on a
keyboard, and do not use a mouse, to navigate a website. MLBAM will
provide Claimants with a copy of the training materials prior to their
being finalized. Claimants will provide their feedback on the training
materials within fifteen (15) days of receipt, and MLBAM will consider
the feedback provided by Claimants in good faith. MLBAM will make a
good faith effort to ensure that at least part of the training
described herein is provided by a qualified Person with a Visual
Impairment. MLBAM will use Reasonable Efforts to track calls to the
customer service telephone number about accessibility issues and to
provide a summary of such issues in advance of the meetings set forth
in Section 6.
6. Meetings Regarding Accessibility of www.mlb.com and Club Sites.
- 6.1.
- The Parties shall meet telephonically at least twice per calendar
year during the Term of this Agreement to discuss any issues set forth
in Section 6.2. Claimant representatives and the mutually agreed on
consultant described in Section 7.1 will participate in the first
meeting.
- 6.2.
- At the request of any party, the following issues shall be
discussed at the semi-annual meetings: feedback from Claimants
regarding accessibility of www.mlb.com and the Club Sites; other
feedback received by MLBAM regarding the accessibility of www.mlb.com
and the Club Sites; issues experienced by MLBAM in implementing this
Agreement; potential accessibility issues with new or planned content
or services on www.mlb.com or the Club Sites; accessibility issues
relating to captioning, transcripts and audio description on
www.mlb.com and Club Sites, accessibility of MLB-related sites not
covered by this Agreement, customer service calls and issues, and any
other related issue that a party would like to discuss. At least ten
(10) business days prior to each meeting pursuant to this section,
Claimants and MLBAM shall submit to the other in writing a list of
issues they would like to discuss at the meeting, and MLBAM shall
provide Claimants with copies of reports generated by the automated
tool described in Section 7.2 herein. Claimants may request that team
or vendor representatives with information about any of the issues to
be discussed be present at the meeting, and MLBAM will make good faith
efforts to arrange for the participation of those persons or entities.
7. Monitoring Provisions.
- 7.1. Mutually Agreed on Consultant.
- As part of the Structured Negotiations process, MLBAM hired a
mutually agreed upon consultant to assist it in improving the
accessibility of www.mlb.com and the Club Sites. Except as provided
herein, MLBAM will maintain a contract with this mutually agreed upon
consultant throughout the term of this agreement to assist MLBAM in
implementing this agreement. If MLBAM decides to replace the
consultant, or if the mutually agreed upon consultant is no longer
available, the Parties will work in good faith to find alternative
mutually agreed upon consultant(s) to assist MLBAM in fulfilling its
obligations under this Agreement.
- 7.2. Reports.
- No later than May 1 of each year during the Term of this Agreement,
the mutually agreed upon consultant will prepare a report that at a
minimum will include a review of the following for compliance with WCAG
2.0, Level AA: (i) MLB.com Homepage; (ii) two team home pages randomly
selected by the consultant; (iii) two statistics pages randomly
selected by the consultant and the path to player statistics from the
MLB.com Homepage; (iv) GameDay Audio purchase page, log-in and
listening page; (v) if materially different from the GameDay Audio
pages referenced in (iv), MLB.TV purchase page, log-in and listening
page; (v) Accessibility Page(s) described in Section 4; and (vi) two
Club ticket purchase paths that are controlled by MLBAM or its
subsidiary randomly selected by the consultant. If the consultant
concludes that any content reviewed for the report does not satisfy
WCAG 2.0 Level AA Success Criteria, the consultant will propose a
resolution that satisfies the Criteria. MLBAM will provide a copy of
the consultant’s reports to Claimants by May 15 of each year during the
Term of this Agreement, and will indicate whether or not MLBAM will
implement the proposed resolution and by what date. Claimants shall
keep confidential the consultant’s reports except as required to be
disclosed for purposes of the Dispute Resolution Process set forth in
Section 8 of this Agreement. Any disagreements over the consultants’
reports may be submitted to submitted to the Dispute Resolution Process
set forth in Section 8 of this Agreement.
- 7.3. Automated Compliance Tool.
- Once per quarter during the term of this Agreement, MLBAM will
utilize an automated compliance tool to help it assess accessibility
issues on www.mlb.com and the Club Sites. The tool, and its best use,
will be agreed on by MLBAM and the mutually agreed upon consultant,
with input from Claimants. At the semi-annual meetings provided for in
Section 6 of this Agreement, MLBAM will provide Claimants with the
results of the reports generated by the tool.
- 7.4. Feedback from Claimants.
- Claimants will notify MLBAM in writing if they believe that there
is content on www.mlb.com or any Club Site that does not meet the
requirements of this Agreement. Within ten days of receiving this
information from the Claimants, MLBAM will respond in writing, and at
the request of either party, the Parties will confer by telephone in an
attempt to informally resolve the issue. If the Parties are unable to
resolve the issue, MLBAM will ask the mutually agreed upon consultant
specified in Section 7.1 to provide an opinion on the issue.
- 7.5.
- Based on the consultant’s opinion, MLBAM may (i) adhere to the
opinion, if favorable to MLBAM, in which case Claimants may contest the
opinion by means of the Dispute Resolution Process set forth in Section
8 of this Agreement; (ii) adhere to the opinion and remedy the instance
of non-compliance, which it will do within a reasonable time frame
after receiving the opinion; or (iii) contest the opinion (including
any timeframe for remedy proposed by the consultant) by means of the
Dispute Resolution Process set forth in Section 8 of this Agreement.
8. Dispute Resolution Process.
- 8.1.
- In the event of (i) a claim by one or more of the Parties that one
or more of the other Parties are in breach of this Agreement; or (ii) a
disagreement over the consultant’s report specified in Section 7.2 or
the consultant’s opinion specified in Section 7.5, the Party or Parties
alleging breach or in disagreement with the consultant will provide
written notice to the other Party or Parties of its position and the
Section of the Agreement at issue. Such Notice will include a brief
statement of the specific facts, circumstances, and legal arguments
supporting the Parties’ position.
- 8.2.
- Within two weeks of the date of the Notice provided for in Section
8.1 above, the Parties will engage in a meet-and-confer process to
resolve the matter.
- 8.3.
- If the matter remains unresolved after a reasonable meet-and-confer
period, the Parties will resort to mediation before a mutually
agreed-upon mediator to resolve the matter.
- 8.4.
- If mediation fails to resolve the matter, the Parties then will
settle the matter finally by means of arbitration conducted by Judicial
Arbitration & Mediation Services ("JAMS") pursuant to its
Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures at a mutually convenient
location. The arbitrator may award the prevailing party its reasonable
attorneys’ fees, expenses, expert witness fees, and other costs
pursuant to applicable law. The award of the arbitrator will be
enforceable in a court of competent jurisdiction.
- 8.5.
- In any dispute regarding MLBAM’s compliance with the obligations of
Section 3 above, MLBAM shall have the burden of demonstrating that it
used Reasonable Efforts.
9. Publicity Regarding This Agreement and Its Terms.
The Parties agree that promptly following the execution of this
Agreement they shall release a joint press release as shown in Exhibit
A. Neither Party may release any other press announcement regarding the
subject matter of this Agreement without the prior written approval of
the other Party, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld. All
public statements made about this Agreement shall be consistent with
the terms of this Agreement and shall reflect the collaborative method
in which the Parties resolved the Dispute.
10. Additional Community Outreach.
Representatives of MLBAM and the Claimants will meet by telephone on
a mutually agreed on date during the first quarter of 2010 to discuss
outreach to the visually impaired community concerning MLBAM’s
accessibility efforts. In future years, this issue may, at the request
of any Party, be discussed at the meetings described in Section 6 of
this Agreement.
11. Notice or Communication to Parties.
Any notice or communication required or permitted to be given to the
Parties hereunder shall be given in writing by email and United States
mail, addressed as follows:
To Claimants:
Linda M. Dardarian
c/o Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian
300 Lakeside Drive, Suite 1000
Oakland, CA 94612
[email address omitted]
Lainey Feingold
c/o Law Office of Lainey Feingold
1524 Scenic Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94708
[email address omitted]
To MLBAM:
Michael J. Mellis
MLB Advanced Media, L.P.
75 Ninth Avenue
New York, New York 10011
[email address omitted]
12. Modification in Writing.
- No modification of this Agreement by the Parties shall be effective
unless it is in writing and signed by authorized representatives of all
the parties hereto.
13. Agreement Binding on Assigns and Successors; No Third Party Beneficiaries.
- 13.1. Assigns and Successors.
- This Agreement shall bind any assigns and successors of MLBAM.
Within thirty (30) days of assignment or succession, MLBAM shall notify
Claimants in writing of the existence, name, address and telephone
number of any assigns or successors relating to the subject matters
addressed herein.
- 13.2. No Third Party Beneficiaries.
- This Agreement is for the benefit of the Parties hereto only and no
other person or entity shall be entitled to rely hereon, receive any
benefit herefrom, or enforce against either party any provision hereof.
The Parties specifically intend that there be no third party
beneficiaries to this Agreement.
14. Force Majeure.
- The performance of MLBAM under this Agreement shall be excused
during the period and to the extent that such performance is rendered
impossible, impracticable or unduly burdensome due to acts of God,
strikes or lockouts, unavailability of parts, equipment or materials
through normal supply sources, security threat, or any other event of
force majeure. If MLBAM seeks to invoke this section it shall notify
Claimants in writing as soon as reasonably practicable, specifying the
particular action(s) that could not be performed and the specific
reason for non-performance. Claimants’ Counsel and the Party(ies)
invoking this section will thereafter meet and confer regarding an
alternative schedule for completion of the action that could not be
performed, or an alternative action. Any dispute regarding the
applicability of this section, or any future action to be taken, that
remains after the meet and confer session will be submitted to the
Dispute Resolution Process set forth in Section 8 of this Agreement.
15. Integrated Agreement.
- This Agreement and the Confidential Addendum hereto constitute the
final, complete and exclusive Agreement between the Parties relating to
the subject matters addressed herein and supersedes any prior or
contemporaneous written or oral agreements between the Parties,
including without limitation the Structured Negotiations Agreement. The
terms of this Agreement are contractual and not merely recitals.
16. Rules of Construction.
- Each Party and its legal counsel have reviewed and participated in
the drafting of this Agreement and any rule of construction to the
effect that ambiguities are construed against the drafting Party shall
not apply in the interpretation or construction of this Agreement.
Section titles used herein are intended for reference purposes only and
are not to be construed as part of the Agreement. The Recitals are
integral to the construction and interpretation of this Agreement and
are therefore incorporated into this Agreement in their entirety.
17. Multiple Originals/Execution in Counterparts.
All Parties and Claimants’ Counsel shall sign three (3) copies of
this document and each such copy shall be considered an original. This
document may be executed in counterparts and facsimile signatures shall
be accepted as original.
SO AGREED:
PARTIES:
- MLB Advanced Media
By: Michael Mellis, Esq., SVP, General Counsel - AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND
By: Melanie Brunson, Executive Director - BAY STATE COUNCIL OF THE BLIND
By: Bob Hachey, President - CALIFORNIA COUNCIL OF THE BLIND
By: Jeff Thom, President
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
- MLBAM
By: Michael Mellis, Esq., SVP, General Counsel - GOLDSTEIN, DEMCHAK, BALLER, BORGEN & DARDARIAN
By: Linda M. Dardarian, Esq. - LAW OFFICE OF LAINEY FEINGOLD
By: Lainey Feingold, Esq. - DISABILITY LAW CENTER
By: Richard M. Glassman, Esq.
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