NAD Files Complaint against Baltimore Washington Medical Center

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and Beth Pepper, a civil rights attorney in Baltimore, Maryland, representing Alma Andrews, a woman who is deaf, have filed a disability discrimination complaint against the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) and one of its hospitals -- Baltimore Washington Medical Center, formerly known as North Arundel Hospital. The complaint, filed with the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, claims that UMMS and Baltimore Washington Medical Center (the hospital) failed to provide qualified interpreter services as required under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

In the complaint, Andrews alleges that she went to the hospital emergency room five times, was admitted as a patient on three of those occasions, and spent a total of 11 days at the hospital during the first three months of 2006. Andrews underwent medical tests, received medical treatments, and had surgery at the hospital. Andrews is deaf and communicates primarily in American Sign Language. Andrews repeatedly requested that the hospital provide qualified interpreter services to communicate effectively with her. During the 11 days Andrews was at the hospital, interpreter services were provided for about 20 minutes using remote video conferencing equipment, and in-person at the hospital on two days. For the other nine days, the hospital resorted to using notes, gestures, and Andrews’s visitors to communicate with Andrews. Andrews’s visitors were not qualified sign language interpreters. These alternatives did not result in effective communication between Andrews and her health care providers. As a result, Andrews did not have an opportunity to participate in and benefit from health care services equal to individuals who are not deaf.

Kelby Brick, NAD Director of Law and Advocacy commented, "It is unbelievable that a hospital would resort to using gestures, notes, and visitors to communicate with a patient who is fluent in and communicates primarily using American Sign Language. This is especially egregious when the hospital has interpreter services readily available, through remote video conferencing equipment and interpreters on site."

Andrews asks that a jury find that UMMS and the hospital discriminated against her and award her compensatory damages for the significant harm that she suffered. According to Beth Pepper, an attorney who is also representing Andrews, "The hospital’s failure to provide interpreter services deprived Andrews of the dignity and respect accorded other patients in the hospital, and created a humiliating and embarrassing situation for her."

More information about the obligations of hospitals to provide sign language interpreter services and other reasonable accommodations can be found at:
http://www.nad.org/hospitalsnursinghomes [2].