Deaf Immigrant Awarded $250K Settlement

VIDEO [CC] - Deaf News: Deaf Man receives $250K settlement after being jailed with no access to interpreter in Virginia.



ARLINGTON, VA -- NBC4 Washington: A Deaf man will receive a $250,000 settlement from the Arlington County Sheriff's Office after it failed to provide a sign language interpreter for him while he was jailed, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Friday.



The man, Abreham Zemedagegehu, has said he spent part of his six-week stay at the Arlington County Detention Facility in 2014 unaware of the charges against him. The Justice Department launched an investigation into Zemedagegehu's claim last year.

NBC News covered a story about Abreham Zemedagegehu and his experience in jail without an interpreter.



"I felt like I was losing my mind," Zemedagegehu said through an interpreter in an interview at his lawyer's office. "I thought Virginia would give me an interpreter and they said no. That's why I felt lost."



Zemedagegehu also said the jail failed provide a communications device to help him communicate with his lawyer and performed medical procedures on him without explaining them or getting his consent.



A native of Ethiopia, he can communicate in American Sign Language but is largely unable to communicate in written English.



Zemedagegehu sued the sheriff's office in federal court, saying his treatment failed to meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).



Among the concerns raised in his lawsuit was the jail's reliance on teletypewriter devices to allow Deaf inmates to communicate with people outside the jail. The sheriff's office has defended its use of the TTY machine, but Zemedagegehu's lawsuit said the device is useless for someone who can't read English and obsolete because videophones are now used predominantly in the Deaf community.



Zemedagegehu's ordeal began Feb. 2, 2014, when he was arrested after being accused of stealing another man's iPad. He said he pleaded guilty to the charge because a plea bargain offered him a sentence of time served. Later, though, the man who accused him of the theft said he'd found the device and rescinded his accusation.



Under the settlement, the sheriff's office will pay $250,000 to Zemedagegehu, and must take steps to comply with the ADA. This includes appointing an ADA coordinator, providing ADA training to its staff, and ensuring that auxiliary aids and services are provided. The Justice Department said the sheriff's office has taken several steps to improve its ADA compliance even before finalizing the settlement agreement.



"People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing must be able to communicate clearly with law enforcement officials," said Tracy Doherty-McCormick, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in a statement Friday. "Through this settlement agreement, the Arlington County Sheriff has taken important steps to ensure that the operations of the Arlington County Detention Facility are in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act."



Source: Deaf Man Receives $250K Settlement After Being Jailed With No Access to Interpreter in Arlington | NBC4 Washington.



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Related:

Deaf Man Jailed With No Access To Interpreter

Ethiopian Immigrant's Role Model For Deaf Inmates

Deaf Immigrant Awarded $250K Settlement

DGM and NAD - Partners For Deaf Rights

VIDEO [CC] - Deaf News: Deaf Grassroots Movement and National Association of the Deaf as the partners for Deaf Rights in the United States.



WASHINGTON -- Get outside and find a street corner on October 20th! Fight for our rights for access, education, and employment. Last week, the Deaf Grassroots Movement (DGM) and the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) met via videoconference.



We talked about how we can work together, build a relationship between DGM and NAD, and identify our plans for the future. The primary focus of our discussion was about October 20th. On that day, in 85 cities across America, people will stand at a street corner with signages to bring attention to three important issues for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community: access, education, and employment.

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Howard - DGM and the NAD work together and support each other. Allow me to explain how. The NAD has always met with the federal government to discuss various issues including education, employment, and access. While such discussions are productive, sometimes we get nowhere. Thanks to DGM’s movement and making noise about our needs, the federal government reached out the NAD recognizing the their actions. This helps the NAD continue the dialogue we want to have with the federal government. I am very appreciative of the work DGM has done to support the rights of deaf and hard of hearing people.



So, October 20th is a very important day! You can get involved by looking for the DGM Facebook page in your state, and find out details about October 20th. You can join for an hour, a few hours, or all day! Your time contributed to this movement will have an impact across the country! This movement will occur every now and then, not just October 20th, so we can remain visible and bring attention to the community including the politicians. We want them to know that we are still here!



SOURCE



Follow @National Association of the Deaf:

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GooglePlus - https://plus.google.com/nad

Twitter - https://twitter.com/nad

YouTube - https://youtube.com/nadvlogs

Website - http://nad.org



Follow @Deaf Grassroots Movement:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/deafgrassrootsmovement

Official Website - http://deafgrassroots.wixsite.com/tdgm



Deaf Grassroots Movement Hastags:

Facebook - https://facebook.com/hashtag/dgm

Instagram - https://instagram.com/explore/tags/dgm

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Related Deaf Deaf Grassroots Movement:

Deaf Grassroots Movement - National Deaf Rally

Deaf Grassroots Movement Nationwide Rally

Deaf Protest at White House in Washington DC

Deaf Protest At The White House 2015 Live Video

Deaf History THAT - "Who Was Melville Ballard"

VIDEO [CC] - A short film from NAD in the Deaf History THAT: "Who Was Melville Ballard" with Linsay Darnall, Jr.

SILVER SPRING, MD -- The National Association of the Deaf is excited to release the new video series, Deaf History That! In this brief episode, Linsay Darnall, Jr. introduces Melville Ballard and shares some interesting facts about him.

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Video description and transcript:



A man sits on an antique sofa, in front of a window. A small transparent NAD logo appears on bottom right.

LINSAY: There are many interesting Deaf people and among them, I’d like to tell you about one person in particular -- Melville Ballard. He was born in Maine and since he was Deaf, there were no known educational institution for Deaf children nearby. When he was eleven years old, he was informed that there was a Deaf school in Hartford. He enrolled and after nine years, Ballard completed his education. The school asked him to become a teacher there. The Columbia Institute for the Deaf and Dumb in Washington, D.C. asked him to teach there, Ballard accepted the offer and soon afterwards, the college for the Deaf was established. He decided to enroll there and after two years, he graduated. Afterwards, he went back to teaching and did so for over fifty years! While he was teaching, Ballard along with a few others, founded a newspaper for Deaf people. The paper was called The Silent World. Ballard was actually one of the participants at that conference in Milan, Italy in 1880. Oh, here's another interesting fact about Ballard -- Congressman James Garfield, who later became the President of the U.S., corresponded with the French Emperor Louis Napoleon Bonaparte III, who communicated in French. The Congressman needed somebody to help him with the translation so he used Ballard, who was fluent in English, French, and Latin, to help with the translations. With Ballard's help, Garfield was able maintain his communications with the French Emperor. So, that is what I wanted to share with you today.

Video cuts to same grey background with white text "This video series is made possible by the Emanuel "Manny" Golden Visual History Fund." In smaller text on the bottom, "National Association of the Deaf © 2016 All Rights Reserved"



NAD Series:

Deaf History THAT - "Little Paper Family"

Deaf History THAT - "Before The NAD"

Deaf History THAT - "Who Was Melville Ballard"



NAD History | National Association of the Deaf



Follow @National Association of the Deaf:

Facebook - https://facebook.com/nad

GooglePlus - https://plus.google.com/nad

Twitter - https://twitter.com/nad

YouTube - https://youtube.com/nadvlogs

Website - http://nad.org



Related Deaf Heritage Documentary:

Through Deaf Eyes - Documentary Film

Ted Evans - In Search Of The DEAF WORLD

Life and Deaf - BBC4 Documentary

Deaf Movie Fans Sues Celebration! Cinemas

VIDEO: Deaf News - Celebration! Cinemas sued for failing to accommodate Deaf, Hard of Hearing in Michigan.



BENTON HARBOR, MI -- FOX News: West Michigan movie fans who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing are suing Celebration! Cinemas for discrimination, alleging their Benton Harbor theater fails to provide widely available captioning accommodations.



Graham Forsey, 23, a St. Joseph resident who is Deaf, alongside the National Association of the Deaf filed a lawsuit Monday against Loeks Theatres, Inc., also known as Celebration! Cinemas. Forsey says he asked the Benton Harbor theater multiple times in writing to provide captioning and Celebration! Cinemas failed to accommodate, according to the lawsuit.

Read the full lawsuit here.



“It’s about access," said Mary Vargas, an attorney representing the plaintiffs. "It’s about Mr. Forsey and members of the National Association of the Deaf being able to go to the movies.”



A non-profit representing more than 137,000 Michiganders who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the NAD is suing Celebration! Cinemas with Forsey stating this failure to provide captioning technology violates a basic civil right as specified under the Americans with Disabilities Act among other laws. Meanwhile, Forsey says he is forced to drive about an hour to another movie theater which accommodates him.



Celebration! Cinemas responded to FOX 17 Monday and confirmed their Benton Harbor theater does not have any captioning accommodations, releasing this statement:



"We’re fully aware of the issues surrounding this complaint and new technologies will help resolve it very soon.



The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) has been working actively with advocacy groups to clarify updated standards for supporting the Deaf community. These standards are currently being reviewed by the Department of Justice, and we expect a ruling from them in the very near future.



Celebration! Cinema is committed to continuing to improve services for all of our guests, and we are looking forward to the approval of these standards so we can continue to invest in closed captioning technology. Currently, we have assisted listening devices in all locations and closed captioning in our Grand Rapids and Lansing, MI markets. Benton Harbor and other locations will receive captioning equipment in the coming months upon the adoption of the new standards.



Technological solutions for visually and hearing impaired guests are evolving at a rapid rate. We look forward to working collaboratively with NATO and advocacy groups both locally and nationally on this topic.



Steve VanWagoner, VP of Marketing & Public Relations, Celebration! Cinema"



Closed captioning technology is readily available at other movie theaters. It ranges from open captioning an entire audience would see, to captioning glasses, or individual devices that fit onto a theater seat.



"It's frustrating because it’s been so many years since this was a legal requirement for theaters," said Vargas. "There are roughly 137,000 people in the state of Michigan who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and guess what? They’re just like everybody else. They like to go to the movies.”



SOURCE

Deaf History THAT - "Before The NAD"

VIDEO [CC] - A short film from NAD - Deaf History THAT "Before The NAD"

SILVER SPRING, MD -- The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is excited to release the new video series, Deaf History That! In this brief episode, learn what were one of our favorite pastimes. Here's Linsay Darnall, Jr. shares about the New England Gallaudet Association of the Deaf. #deafhistoryTHAT.

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Video description and transcript:

A man stands in front of an off-white wall and an old model ship on top of an old bookcase. A small transparent NAD logo appears on bottom right.



LINSAY: Deaf people were faced with a dilemma that had raised concerns among them. It was generally known that Deaf people, upon the graduation from school, would acquire jobs and live at their respective places. However, the idea of Deaf people living far apart from their friends could have a negative impact on their intelligence. They needed to gather and discuss solutions. So in 1853, Deaf people in New England congregated in Vermont and decided to establish an organization. Subsequently, in 1854, Thomas Brown, who was in charge in developing the constitution for the newly formed group, and others gathered for a meeting in Henniker, New Hampshire. The meeting lasted for several days which formed the constitution and the name of the new organization the New England Gallaudet Association of the Deaf, the NEGAD. The purpose of the organization was to promote the intellectual growth among the Deaf people who lived in various places and to become a model for other states to follow. Eventually, other states had established their own state association which prompted the eventual establishment of the National Association of the Deaf, the NAD. All of that began with a group of people who were posed with a question that led to the national organization that made it possible for all Deaf to advance.

Video cuts to same grey background with white text "This video series is made possible by the Emanuel "Manny" Golden Visual History Fund." In smaller text on the bottom, "National Association of the Deaf © 2016 All Rights Reserved"



NAD Series: Deaf History THAT - "Little Paper Family"



NAD History | National Association of the Deaf



NAD Series:

Deaf History THAT - "Little Paper Family"

Deaf History THAT - "Before The NAD"

Deaf History THAT - "Who Was Melville Ballard"



NAD History | National Association of the Deaf



Follow @National Association of the Deaf:

Facebook - https://facebook.com/nad

GooglePlus - https://plus.google.com/nad

Twitter - https://twitter.com/nad

YouTube - https://youtube.com/nadvlogs

Website - http://nad.org



Related Deaf Heritage Documentary:

Through Deaf Eyes - Documentary Film

Ted Evans - In Search Of The DEAF WORLD

Life and Deaf - BBC4 Documentary