Deaf Patients Fight For Rights  (Excerpt)

       From the Palm Beach Post, Florida, September 2, 2005

 

For Florence Beaubien a trip to the doctor was akin to taking a ride on an alien spaceship.  Beaubien is deaf.  Then, one night in 2002 as she sat in the emergency room at Bethesda Memorial Hospital watching her husband clutch his chest in pain, she decided she deserved to know what was happening.  She and her husband, Cardell, sued the hospital under the ADA Act.  The hospital agreed to settle the suit by paying the Boynton Beach couple an undisclosed amount of money.  The settlement is one of several signed by South Florida hospitals in recent months.

Real full story at: www.medbio.com/articles.htm 

 

         Aiding Deaf at Doctor's Office (Excerpt)
   The Press-Enterprise, California, May 3, 2006   By Mike Schwartz

Because 97 percent of the hearing impaired don't even know how to sign, clinics need to provide other assistive devices such as a computer-assisted speech-to-text captioning system.  Even if a deaf parent brings in a child with normal hearing for a doctor's visit, "reasonable accommodations" must be made.  The patient may be advised to file a written complaint with the state attorney general's office; the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice or the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Ultimately a civil lawsuit may be necessary.  Read full story at: www.pe.com/lifestyles/stories/PE_Fea_Daily_D_deaf0503.5b809cf.html 

 

Dept. of Justice Agreement with Hospital  (Excerpt)

April 9, 2007 – The Dept. of Justice today announced a Settlement Agreement with Inova Fairfax Hospital which is designed to ensure effective communication with patients, or their companions, who are deaf or hard of hearing.  Under the Agreement, the hospital will provide auxiliary aids when needed.  Read full story at: www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/April/07_crt_228.html 

 

EEOC WINS DISABILITY BIAS SUIT AGAINST FEDEX (Excerpt)

Jury Rules FEDEX to pay $108,000 for failure to accommodate deaf

March 2, 2006 - EEOC charged FEDEX with failing to provide reasonable accommodation to a profoundly deaf employee.  It is the employer’s responsibility to demonstrate it is committed to fully adhere to the requirements of the ADA.  Read full story at: www.eeoc.gov/press/3-2-06.html