{"id":13085,"date":"2011-02-01T23:10:37","date_gmt":"2011-02-02T04:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=13085"},"modified":"2011-02-02T00:08:59","modified_gmt":"2011-02-02T05:08:59","slug":"doj-settlement-with-hr-block","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/02\/01\/doj-settlement-with-hr-block\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Settlement with H&R Block"},"content":{"rendered":"

DOJ Settlement with H&R Block<\/strong><\/p>\n

Department of Justice
\nOffice of Public Affairs
\nFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n

Monday, January 31, 2011<\/p>\n

Justice Department Reaches Americans with Disabilities Act Settlement with
\nH&R Block<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced a comprehensive
\nsettlement agreement under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with
\nHRB Tax Group Inc., H&R Block Tax Services LLC and HRB Advance LLC (H&R
\nBlock) to ensure effective communication with individuals who are deaf or
\nhard of hearing in the provision of income tax preparation services and
\ncourses at more than 11,000 owned and franchised offices nationwide.<\/p>\n

The settlement agreement, which resolves an ADA complaint filed by an
\nindividual who is deaf, requires, among other things, that H&R Block furnish
\nappropriate auxiliary aids and services, including sign language interpreter
\nservices, when necessary to afford a person who is deaf or hard of hearing
\nequal access to the goods, services and accommodations made available to
\nothers.<\/p>\n

“By signing this agreement, H&R Block has affirmed its commitment to
\nproviding effective communication with people who are deaf and hard of
\nhearing not only at their tax preparation offices in San Antonio, where the
\ncomplaint originated, but at their locations across the country,” said
\nThomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.
\n“The agreement will ensure that individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing
\nhave equal access to tax preparation services at more than 11,000 offices
\nnationwide.”<\/p>\n

The agreement requires that H&R Block:<\/p>\n

* Provide auxiliary aids and services, including qualified sign language
\ninterpreters, to persons who are deaf or hard of hearing when necessary to
\nensure effective communication of its tax preparation services, programs and
\ncourses;
\n* Adopt and enforce a policy on effective communication with individuals who
\nare deaf or hard of hearing for all H&R Block offices nationwide, post the
\npolicy on its websites and in its employee manuals, and distribute the
\npolicy to current and new employees and contractors;
\n* Establish and maintain a list of sign language interpreter providers;
\nPost and maintain in a conspicuous location in all reception areas of H&R
\nBlock offices a notice stating that individuals who are deaf or hard of
\nhearing have a right under the ADA to request a sign language or oral
\ninterpreter or other form of auxiliary aid or service if needed;
\n* Provide staff training on the ADA and H&R Block\u2019s obligations to provide
\neffective communication to individuals with disabilities;
\nMonitor franchisees’ compliance with this requirement consistent with
\nmonitoring of compliance with the franchise agreements and other
\nrequirements of federal, state or local laws; and
\n* Pay $5,000 damages to the individual who filed an ADA complaint and a
\n$20,000 civil penalty.<\/p>\n

The ADA prohibits discrimination against customers with disabilities by
\nbusinesses that serve the public. Among other things, the ADA requires tax
\npreparation services, accountants, lawyers, doctors and other businesses to
\nprovide equal access to customers who are deaf or hard of hearing. When
\nservices such as tax preparation involve important, lengthy or complex oral
\ncommunications with customers, businesses are generally required to provide
\nqualified sign language interpreters and other auxiliary aids, free of
\ncharge, to individuals who are deaf, are hard of hearing or have speech
\ndisabilities. Other auxiliary aids may include the use of relay services for
\ntelephone communication, exchanging notes for brief and uncomplicated
\ncommunications, providing assistive listening systems and receivers in
\nclasses for attendees who are hard of hearing, and providing captioned
\nvideos. The appropriate auxiliary aid to be provided depends on a variety of
\nfactors including the nature, length and importance of the communication;
\nthe communication skills and knowledge of the individual who is deaf or hard
\nof hearing; and the individual\u2019s stated need for a particular type of
\nauxiliary aid.<\/p>\n

Auxiliary aids must also be provided for individuals who are blind or have
\nlow vision, such as materials in Braille, large print or accessible
\nelectronic formats such as email or HTML, qualified readers and assistance
\nin filling out forms.<\/p>\n

Those interested in finding out more about this agreement or businesses\u2019
\neffective communication obligations under the ADA may call the Justice
\nDepartment\u2019s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383
\n(TDD), or access its ADA website at http:\/\/www.ada.gov<\/a> . ADA complaints
\nmay be filed by email to ada.complaint@usdoj.gov.<\/p>\n

Source:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/2011\/January\/11-ag-131.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DOJ Settlement with H&R Block Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, January 31, 2011 Justice Department Reaches Americans with Disabilities Act Settlement with H&R Block WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced a comprehensive settlement…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[114,3472,7875,4063,7876,768,564,563,7877,3813,7879,7878,7873,40,7880,191,717,7874],"class_list":["post-13085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-ada","tag-americans-with-disabilities-act","tag-assistant-attorney-general","tag-auxiliary-aid","tag-civil-rights-division","tag-communication","tag-department-of-justice","tag-doj","tag-hr-block-tax-services-llc","tag-hr-block","tag-hrb-advance-llc","tag-hrb-tax-group-inc","tag-html","tag-interpreter","tag-settlement","tag-sign-language","tag-tax","tag-thomas-e-perez"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-3p3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9782,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/03\/21\/hr-block-franchisee-agrees-to-provide-interpreters-for-deaf\/","url_meta":{"origin":13085,"position":0},"title":"H&R Block Franchisee Agrees to Provide Interpreters for Deaf","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"March 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, March 18, 2010 Justice Department Reaches Americans with Disabilities Act Settlement with Florida Income Tax Preparation Service H&R Block Franchisee Agrees to Provide Sign Language Interpreters for Deaf Customers WASHINGTON \u2013 The Justice Department today announced a comprehensive settlement\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32004,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2015\/09\/30\/galveston-county-texas-doj-reaches-settlement-agreement-to-ensure-access-for-persons-with-disabilities\/","url_meta":{"origin":13085,"position":1},"title":"Galveston County, Texas: DOJ Reaches Settlement Agreement to Ensure Access for Persons with Disabilities","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"September 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"DOJ Reaches Settlement Agreement to Ensure Access for Persons with Disabilities in Galveston County, Texas The Justice Department today announced a Project Civic Access (PCA) agreement with Galveston County, TX (County), to improve access to all aspects of civic life for people with disabilities. 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