Wednesday, November 23 quick news briefs
Hello, here are two quick news briefs.
The first is that there was a mass shooting at a Walmart last night in Chesapeake, Virginia. News reports said a 31-year-old store manager named Andre Bing used a handgun to shoot at his fellow workers in a break room while there was a meeting. The shooter then turned the gun on himself, committing suicide. It is not known what his motive was. It is the fourth major mass killing to hit the U.S. in only a few days with the other incidents at the University of Virginia, near the University of Idaho, and at an LGBTQ-friendly bar in Colorado Springs.
The second news brief is that the Keith Wann discrimination lawsuit against TDF has been settled. Wann announced it on his Facebook page on Tuesday. I reached out to the TDF and they confirmed that “this has been settled to the satisfaction of both parties.” I asked what the terms of the settlement were, but TDF said it is confidential and had no further comment. I covered the lawsuit in detail in a previous news report. To recap in a nutshell, Wann, who is white and a hearing/CODA interpreter, was offered an interpreting gig for the Broadway production of “The Lion King” but had that offer rescinded a few days later because TDF, an organization that provides deaf and disabled audiences with opportunities to have an equitable experience on Broadway by providing interpreters or captions, believed that it was appropriate to have Black/BIPOC interpreters for the show, which is composed of an all Black/BIPOC cast. Wann sued the TDF and demanded to be paid the $1,000 that he would have been paid and attorneys fees. It is possible that the settlement meets these demands, but I cannot confirm.
In separate but related news, the RID, NBDA, and NAD released a joint statement on Tuesday saying that if an interpreter takes a job that should have been offered to BIPOC interpreters, it is an act of cultural appropriation and disempowerment and must stop.
That’s the two quick news briefs for today.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/22/us/chesapeake-virginia-walmart-shooting/index.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63724716
https://www.facebook.com/ASLComedian/videos/840895210483885/