New York Gov. Cuomo sued for failing to provide “in frame ASL” interpreters
New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) was sued by four deaf individuals who are represented by Disability Rights New York for failing to provide ASL interpreters in his television broadcasts.
The governor does provide ASL interpretation with a CDI, but it is on a separate, external website and it is not included in what is broadcast across New York televisions.
The four deaf individuals, according to the complaint, are Dennis Martinez (30) from Brooklyn, Douglas Nguyen (56) from Albany, James Hallenbeck (63) from Endicott, and Jill Wildberger (23) from Round Lake.
The federal lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York.
The lawsuit said Gov. Cuomo and his office must abide by Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because they are a public entity and receives federal funds. Here is what Title II of the ADA says.
“No qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or subjected to discrimination by any such entity. 42 U.S.C. § 12132.”
The lawsuit said New York is the only state that has never provided televised in frame ASL interpretation of its COVID-19 briefings since March 1, 2020.
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Disability Rights New York said in the lawsuit that they have received a large number of complaints from deaf New Yorkers and that they made a request for in-frame ASL interpretation on March 24. Then on March 27, Gov. Cuomo began offering ASL interpretation on an online broadcast on the Governor’s website.
Disability Rights New York said they made another request in writing to Gov. Cuomo on March 30 to advocate for deaf New Yorkers without access to the internet. They filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice on April 3.
The lawsuit is asking the court to order Gov. Cuomo to provide live televised in frame ASL interpretation at any and all briefings designed to reach residents of New York and for the court to declare that Gov. Cuomo has violated the ADA and Section 504 and to pay reasonable attorney fees and costs.
The New York Post covered the lawsuit and shared a comment from Gov. Cuomo’s spokesperson.
“We’ll review the suit, but we’ve been moving heaven and Earth working with the Albany press corps to reduce density in the room and respect social distancing standards as we fight this pandemic.” - Gov. Cuomo’s spokesperson
Disability Rights New York Executive Director Timothy Clune commented:
“It is inexplicable that during this pandemic, the Governor would choose not to have ASL interpreters at his daily live televised briefings.” - DRNY Director Timothy Clune
I reached out to Disability Rights New York to see what would happen going forward. Their director of marketing and communications, Katrin Haldeman, said they have a response date of May 5, which this coming Tuesday at 2 pm. We’ll know more by that time on what the governor’s office has to say.
“The Daily Moth” has done two recent stories about Gov. Cuomo not providing ASL interpreters in his broadcasts. Many in New York have called on the governor to provide on-screen interpreters. Unfortunately, nothing has changed, but maybe it will with this lawsuit. The only reason I can think of, to be honest, is that it seems like Gov. Cuomo simply does not want to share his screen with a signer. He may think it’s unsightly or distracting. I can’t think of any other reason why Cuomo, a Democratic and progressive politician, would ignore multiple requests for equal access during a national emergency, especially when New York City and every other state has provided it. That’s just my honest opinion and analysis.
Now on a separate but related issue, the White House has not provided an ASL interpreter for any of President Donald Trump’s briefings on COVID-19. DPAN.TV has come up with a solution by providing LIVE broadcasts of interpreters and “The Daily Moth” has shared them on Facebook.
Why not sue the White House? The NAD CEO Howard Rosenblum said in an interview with “The Sound Off Ladies” that there is no law right now, from his understanding, in the ADA or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act that applies to the President of the U.S.
Rosenblum said (President Trump) is immune from the law because laws passed by Congress does not apply to the White House or to the courts. The laws only applies to U.S. agencies but not to the President.
Rosenblum also explained that the Trump White House does not have an office focused on disability needs. He also said historically, no U.S. president has ever appeared alongside an ASL interpreter, but said that during this national emergency with the pandemic, it should happen. Rosenblum said the only way for the White House to provide interpreters is through political pressure.
Disability Rights New York/Lawsuit Document: https://bit.ly/2xrdHTw
Organization website: https://www.drny.org/
Sound Off Ladies: https://bit.ly/2Sn7zTv
NY Post: https://nypost.com/2020/04/29/gov-cuomo-sued-for-lack-of-sign-language-interpreter-at-briefings/