NAD Sues BB&T Bank for Denying Relay Calls

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD), Stein & Vargas, LLP and Raymond Marshall of Chason, Rosner, Leary & Marshall filed a lawsuit against BB&T Bank in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of the Virginia Association of the Deaf, Inc. (VAD) and a deaf Virginia resident, Melanie Williams. The lawsuit alleges that BB&T’s policy of refusing relay calls is a violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The lawsuit asks the court to order BB&T to adopt a policy where all incoming relay calls from people who are deaf or hard of hearing must be accepted in same extent that they accept telephone calls from hearing customers.

The VAD has a number of members who are customers of BB&T. Along with Ms. Williams, they are unable to access BB&T’s customer service via telephone because BB&T customer service representatives refuse to accept relay services.

Despite warnings and communication from the NAD [2], the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) [3], and the Department of Justice (DOJ) [4], some banks continue to reject relay calls. The DOJ recently settled with Wells Fargo [5], which agreed to stop refusing to accept relay calls.

“BB&T’s refusal to accept all kinds of relay calls is unacceptable. When a bank refuses to accept any kind of relay call, they discriminate against deaf and hard of hearing customers,” said NAD President Bobbie Beth Scoggins.

If any entity, including banks, refuse to accept relay calls from deaf and hard of hearing people, please contact the NAD [6].