NEW YORK CITY: Metropolitan Museum Settles Class Action Suit On “Recommended” Admission Fees

Reuters reports:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has agreed to reword its signs and website to settle years-long litigation that claimed it deceived patrons into believing its recommended $25 admission fee was mandatory.

Under the settlement announced on Friday, the museum, the largest in the United States and considered one of the world’s most prestigious art institutions, will now say the amount is “suggested” rather than “recommended.”

The museum faced two lawsuits that claimed its signage was misleading, in part because the word “recommended” was not sufficiently highlighted, and that visitors were funneled directly to cashiers upon entering to pay the money.

Under museum policy, visitors can gain entrance by paying as much or as little as they wish. The Met, as it is generally known, has charged recommended admission fees since 1971.

An 1893 state law requires the museum to allow free admission on “most” days of the week. The new signage goes up next month.