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Hello, and welcome to the Disability Law Lowdown podcast. My name is Lori Mallory. I'm one of your hosts.

Today, we're going to talk about news from the Department of Justice.

The Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice, called the "DOJ,” enforces laws prohibiting discrimination based on disability in employment, housing, access to businesses serving the public, and access to government programs and services. The DOJ recently released information about some of its enforcement actions. That is what I’m going to tell you about today.

The DOJ and the New York Police Department (NYPD) entered into a settlement agreement with the Department that resolved three ADA complaints about the NYPD’s failure to have appropriate policies and procedures in place to handle the interviews with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing – either when they are arrested or when they are interviewed by the police. As part of the agreement, NYPD will make sure to effectively communicate with people who are deaf or are hard or hearing. They will designate an ADA coordinator to oversee compliance efforts. They will also train new recruits and supervisors about appropriate procedures for dealing with people who are deaf or are hard of hearing.

Now, another settlement. The DOJ and Hotel Carter, a Manhattan hotel, entered into a consent decree approved by a federal court. Under ths settlement, the 450-room Hotel Carter will create 13 fully accessible guest rooms, and an additional 22 guest rooms that are accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Another hotel, the 790-room Edison Hotel, entered into a voluntary settlement agreement with the DOJ. The hotel will create 24 fully accessible guest rooms and an additional 40 guest rooms that are accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Now, another situation. In Denver, Colorado, the DOJ filed a lawsuit in federal court against an attorney who refused to let a service dog accompany a woman who was in his office for a deposition.

In another case, a settlement was mediated between the DOJ and a Florida court. The court failed to provide effective communication for a person who was summoned for jury duty and requested real-time captioning. As part of the mediated agreement, the court agreed to provide real-time captioning when needed and changed its jury summons to include instructions for individuals with disabilities who need accommodations. It also added captioning to the jury instruction video, produced a written copy of the juror oath, and agreed to review all efforts to improve effective communication on an ongoing basis.

Another case in Georgia, a couple who is deaf said that a county court required their son to interpret for them during a hearing. The court and DOJ mediated an agreement under which the court adopted a policy for providing effective communication, including the provision of qualified sign language interpreters, and distributed a memo to staff directing them to send individuals who need assistance with effective communication to the clerk of the court, who had been trained on the policy. The court also created a list of qualified sign language interpreters.

Those are some examples of the work that DOJ is doing to enforce the civil rights of individuals with disabilities.

I hope you enjoyed watching this ASL video podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. You can subscribe for free through iTunes or by going to ASL.DisabilityLawLowdown.com

The Disability Law Lowdown is sponsored by the Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers (DBTAC) a network of ten ADA Centers around the country. The ADA Centers provide training and technical assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act and other disability related laws.

If you have questions or would like more information, you can call us at 1-800-949-4232 (V/TTY).

The ADA Centers are supported by a grant from NIDRR.