Deaf News Briefs: NAD & USDA settlement; Deaf West’s Oedipus
Here are two Deaf News briefs.
The first is a recap of an announcement the NAD made last week about a $550,000 class action settlement they won against a federal agency over its system of providing interpreters for deaf employees.
NAD CEO Howard Rosenblum explained in a vlog that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is composed of seventeen sub-agencies, used to have a centralized system to provide interpreting services and other accommodations for deaf employees who lived in the metropolitan D.C. area. Rosenblum said it was a good system. But in 2014, the USDA decentralized its system and required each sub-agency to provide interpreting and other needs for accommodations. Rosenblum said there was a “mess” because the sub-agencies didn’t know what to do with the accommodations and many deaf employees didn’t have the interpreters they needed.
Rosenblum said deaf and hard of hearing USDA employees in the D.C. area filed a complaint and the NAD represented them in filing a lawsuit against the USDA with the help of two other law firms, Zelle and Latham & Watkins. The lawsuit process took eight years. Rosenblum said the USDA agreed to revert back to the centralized system and to pay attorney fees and to pay the seven members of the class.
The NAD’s press release said the USDA agreed “…to pay $550,000; $30,000 to the individual class members and $520,000 in attorney’s fees and court costs, which will be used to further support the NAD…” Rosenblum said the case is important because it shows that employers should strive to have a centralized system for providing accommodations.
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Deaf West Theatre and its artistic director DJ Kurs premiered its production of Oedipus on Thursday night at the Outdoor Theater at the Getty Museum. Deaf West Theatre said the story is a “…murder mystery, a political thriller, and a psychological whodunit.”
Deaf actor Russell Harvard has the lead role of King Oedipus. Others in the cast include Treshelle Edmond, Amelia Hensley, Andrew Morrill, Alexandria Wailes, and more. Wailes and Morrill also serve on the creative team as co-ASL choreographers.
Spectrum News explained in a feature that it is the first time in Deaf West Theatre’s history that they have a DeafBlind actor on the cast, who is Ashlea Hayes. She plays the role of Tiresias, who is a blind oracle. As a result, Protactile ASL will be a part of the performance.
There will be performances on Thursdays through Saturdays from September 7 to October 1. Ticket prices range from $36 to $48.
That’s the two Deaf News briefs for today.
https://www.nad.org/2022/08/30/usda-returns-to-centralized-interpreting-services/