Deaf Woman Sues NYPD For Wrongly Arrested

VIDEO [CC] - Exclusive Interviews: Deaf woman arrested by NYPD settles case against city for $750,000.



NEW YORK CITY - A Deaf woman who said she was wrongly arrested by cops who ignored her disability settled her case for $750,000 Tuesday, a figure her attorneys say is the largest of its kind.



Diana Williams charged in her suit filed in Manhattan Federal Court that the New York City Police Department officers who slapped her in cuffs ignored police guidelines requiring them to request a sign language interpreter when interacting with Deaf people.



“Deaf individuals have rights, and they do not have to tolerate discrimination and injustices of any kind,” her attorneys Andrew Rozynski and Eric Baum said in a statement.



“Ms. Williams hopes that the settlement will send a message to all law enforcement agencies across the country that they should adopt proper policies and procedures to ensure full communication access for Deaf individuals.”

Two New Yorkers who can't hear or speak and communicate only by sign language claim they were wrongly arrested by NYPD officers in two separate incidents.



Williams’ ordeal began Sept. 11, 2011, when she called 911 for assistance evicting a difficult tenant from her Staten Island home.



Most of the people in the house were Deaf, but cops allegedly ignored training requiring them to request an interpreter.



Without being able to explain to Williams what was happening, Officer Christian Romano arrested her and the tenant for allegedly getting in a fight, and for the next 24 hours police ignored her attempts to communicate, the suit said.



Williams was so panicked she even wrote the letters “HOSP” on the window of a police cruiser in an effort to tell them she needed to go to the hospital, the suit says.



Romano checked the “No” box on the arrest report asking if an interpreter was needed, according to documents. He later checked “No” on different paperwork asking if Williams had a disability.



Williams’ attorneys, who run the Eisenberg and Baum Law Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing, said they believe their client has received the largest payout ever to an individual alleging Deaf discrimination by a public agency. A Deaf advocate at the firm, Sheryl Eisenberg-Michalowski, also worked on the case.



“Settling was in the best interest of the city,” a Law Department spokesman said. Source by New York Daily News

Starbucks Sued For Discrimination Deaf Employee

Deaf News: Starbucks sued for allegedly discriminating against Deaf staff.

PHOENIX, AZ - The American Genius: Having a product that is in demand is vital, but maintaining quality help is the very bedrock of successful companies. A business, even the most reputable one, cannot make an impact without respectable, pleasant and reliable employees.



Regulars get used to seeing helpful, friendly faces and before you know it, instead of merely stopping by a coffee shop to grab your favorite cup of joe, a connection is made. Patrons become invested in the success of the company because they’re invested in the relationships they’ve fostered with the staff.

And so the cycle begins.



This is the type of emotional correlation that breeds success, but these connections can only occur when employees are valued and supplied the proper modifications at work. With that being said, shame on you, Starbucks.



Obviously, most of the adult world couldn’t function without their java, but that doesn’t give companies like Starbucks a pass on providing disabled employees proper accommodations.



Laura Roberts, a Starbucks employee for seven years, has filed a lawsuit against Starbucks. She claims that the store fired her in retaliation after she repeatedly asked for American Sign Language (ASL) accommodates.



Roberts, who has been Deaf since infancy, requested interpreters during staff and training meetings on various occasions.



She can read, and during her employment relied on a printed schedule for her hours. She also utilized her ability to lip-read in order to serve customers.



After a managerial transition, she was denied a printed schedule, and required to read her schedule from a posted list. Thus, limiting her ability to understand the hours she was required to work... Read More: http://theamericangenius.com/business-news/starbucks-sued-for-allegedly-discriminating-against-deaf-staff/



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Ethiopian Immigrant's Role Model For Deaf Inmates

VIDEO [CC] - Deaf News - Ethiopian immigrant is a role model for Deaf inmates in the United States.



West - Welfare Society Territory: A Deaf Ethiopian immigrant is the new champion for US inmates with hearing impairments. Abreham Zemedagegehu, 41, whose case is causing debate in the US, is suing the powerful sheriff of Arlington, Virginia, for failing to take into account his disabilities during his detention following a theft in 2014.



“In prison, no one could communicate with me,” Abreham Zemedagegehu told the magistrates. This caused him to suffer inhuman and degrading treatment, to the point that he often missed lunch and dinner because he couldn’t hear the bell for mealtimes. Not to mention that he couldn’t communicate with the outside world because there was no phone equipment to meet his needs. Neither was he given access to a doctor who could understand the medications he required.

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Moreover, according to some of the major human rights organisations, Abreham Zemedagegehu is no exception. He’s just proof of a prison system that is not equipped to provide the basic services for prisoners with hearing disabilities, who represent between 5% and 7% of the entire prison population.



Non-governmental organizations say that even small changes would be enough to change things drastically. Some state prisons in the US even state-run prisons in Virginia have become role models to imitate. Arlington prison, where Abreham is detained, is under federal jurisdiction, however, so doesn’t fall into this category. Many state prisons now provide access for the Deaf to electronic message boards for announcements and video phones for calls to family and friends. While there are sign language interpreters for circumstances such as professional courses, disciplinary hearings or medical visits. Source



NOTE: Deaf YouVideo has learned, the West Welfare Society Territory web-site posted an error picture of Kenneth Felix Jr aka KenX50 instead of Abreham Zemedagegehu as seen on HERE.



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Deaf Man Jailed With No Access To Interpreter

Fapping Guy Calls Deaf Video Service 4,000 Times

Deaf News: Guy calls Deaf video service 4,000 times - Allegedly got naked, masturbated in front of ZVRS employees.



NEW YORK POST - A Brooklyn man is using a video calling service for the Deaf to reach out and touch himself, the company providing the service alleges in a lawsuit.



David Marcano is one of the most fervent users of software offered by a Florida company, ZVRS, which gets federal money every time a hearing-disabled person uses its product to place a call, the company claims.



The software allows the Deaf to call one of ZVRS’s sign language interpreters via video chat. The interpreters act as operators, placing calls to third parties on behalf of the Deaf person and then translating the call.



But Marcano, 51, isn’t Deaf, and his calls don’t need any translating, the company says in Brooklyn federal court papers.



Marcano has made 4,646 calls to ZVRS since Jan. 1 “for the sole purpose of masturbating in view of ZVRS’s employees,” the business says.



“In every call made through ZVRS’s software platform, Marcano appears on the video call for the purpose of exposing his genitals or masturbating to ZVRS’s female staff,” according to the suit which seeks unspecified damages.



As soon as ZVRS cancels Marcano’s account, he uses false information to create a new one, they gripe. He’s called from eight different numbers, and contacted them as recently as Sept. 21, the company charges.



He has signed up for new ZVRS accounts under the names “Davey Mareno,” “Davey Mar,” “Dave Maccan,” “Dave Mard” and “Dave Macan,” among others.



The calls have cost the company productivity and business and left ZVRS’s employees with emotional distress, the firm claims.



ZVRS also is seeking an injunction against Marcano to stop his hands-on use of their service, accusing him of fraud and breach of contract because he signed up for software he doesn’t need.



Marcano didn’t respond to messages sent to each of the 24 e-mail addresses ZVRS says he used to create the fake accounts. SOURCE



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Deaf Man Jailed Without Interpreter, Wins Case

Deaf News: Deaf man jailed without sign language translator wins case against District of Columbia jail.



WASHINGTON - A Deaf man who was jailed for 51 days without a sign language translator - left unable to communicate with prison doctors, his counselor, his teachers and other inmates - has won a discrimination case against the District of Columbia.



William Pierce is profoundly Deaf and communicates with sign language. After he pleaded guilty to a simple assault charge stemming from a domestic dispute, he was sentenced to the D.C. Correctional Treatment Facility, which is operated by Corrections Corporation of America.



The jail assumed that "lip-reading and exchanging written notes would suffice," and did not provide a translator, the court found.



"They figuratively shrugged and effectively sat on their hands," the court's decision read. Pierce felt isolated and confused by what was happening in jail, he said in court filings.



The court found that the District and CCA had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as the 1973 Rehabilitation Act.



“I am very pleased with Judge Jackson’s decision to find that the District of Columbia violated my rights as a Deaf man and a human being,” Pierce said, through an interpreter, in an American Civil Liberties Union press release.



“Video phones and interpreters are critical for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing inmates to have access to the same opportunities as other inmates," Pierce said. "Unfortunately, even with this decision, the denial of service and adequate access continues... Read more: http://nbcwashington.com/news/local/Deaf-Man-Jailed-Without-Sign-Language-Translator-Wins-Case-Against-DC-Jail.html

Deaf Worker Lawsuit BioLife For Discrimination

Deaf News: Deaf worker whose job offer was rescinded wins bias appeal.

Business Insurance - Deaf employees are allowed to use alternate alerting devices to perform their job, says an appeals court that reversed a ruling Monday in favor of a Deaf job applicant who had a job offer rescinded after being offered the position.



Kelly Osborne filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Cheyenne, Wyoming, against BioLife Plasma Services, a blood collecting facility located in Cheyenne that operates under Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter Healthcare Corp. Ms. Osborne’s case stated the company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits employers from discriminating against a qualified individual on the basis of disability.



Ms. Osborne, who is Deaf but can read lips, applied for a plasma center technician position that required monitoring the donor area’s plasmapheresis machines that remove blood from a donor, separate the plasma and return the red blood cells to the donor. The machines emit audible alarms when something goes wrong. She was offered a position, but BioLife’s human resources department determined Ms. Osborne was not qualified, and the offer was rescinded, according to court documents.



The District Court decided May 30, 2014, that Ms. Osborne did not identify reasonable ways that she could monitor the donor blood machines using other methods to alert her and granted summary judgment to BioLife... Read more: http://businessinsurance.com/article/news



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