Deaf woman awarded $75,000 in suit <\/p>\n
By Mitzie Stelte <\/p>\n
Published April 3, 2008 <\/p>\n
A new policy to assist the deaf during emergency situations is in the
\nworks by the City of New Braunfels because of a lawsuit settlement
\nTuesday. <\/p>\n
Maria Salinas, a deaf woman who uses American Sign Language to
\ncommunicate and isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fluent in written or spoken English, was
\nawarded $75,000 in damages after she sued the city for allegedly not
\nproviding an interpreter in a timely manner during a 911 emergency. <\/p>\n
The 911 call was made Sept. 23, 2004, after Salinas came home from
\nwork and found her fianc\u00c3\u00a9, Ed Spencer, lying motionless on her couch
\nand wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t able to wake him. Salinas had a neighbor call 911 to
\nrequest assistance and ask police for the services of a qualified ASL
\ninterpreter. <\/p>\n
According to Salinas, the police knew from the 911 call that she was
\ndeaf and needed interpreter services, but they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t attempt to
\nlocate an interpreter and failed to assign this task to another city
\nemployee. <\/p>\n
Lucy Wood, Salinas\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 attorney, said the woman suffered emotional
\ndistress because she didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what functions the police were
\nperforming and remained unsure about her fianc\u00c3\u00a9\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s prognosis because
\nof the language barrier. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just really grateful to set up a new policy that will
\ngovern how police interact with the deaf and hope it will serve as a
\nboilerplate for other communities,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Wood, who works for
\nAdvocacy Incorporated, a nonprofit organization that assists
\nindividuals with disabilities in civil lawsuits. <\/p>\n
Motions made by the city to dismiss the case were denied in February
\n2006 by the federal court in San Antonio handling the case. <\/p>\n
According to Charles Frigerio, the attorney representing the city,
\nthe New Braunfels Police Department\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s list of interpreters will be
\nupdated, which he said was the problem in this case. <\/p>\n
Frigerio said Wednesday that settling before trial means the city
\navoids having to pay for claims and legal fees, which could have
\namounted to $300,000. <\/p>\n
The money for the settlement comes out of the Texas Municipal League,
\nwhich acts as a sort of insurance company for various cities in the
\nstate, he said. <\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Overall, the city is happy that this case is finally been decided
\nand new regulations will be in place,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Frigerio said. <\/p>\n
Link:
\nhttp:\/\/herald-zeitung.com\/story.lasso?ewcd=3b69d0f5a392ccf4&-session=HeraldZeitung:40DA3C4E09d10394DAKXw31A06F5<\/p>\n
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Deaf woman awarded $75,000 in suit By Mitzie Stelte Published April 3, 2008 A new policy to assist the deaf during emergency situations is in the works by the City of New Braunfels because of a lawsuit settlement Tuesday. Maria…<\/p>\n