Charles Williams, an 84-year-old Cleveland Heights resident, filed a discrimination suit against the Cleveland Clinic Foundation for what he describes as an ongoing failure to provide American Sign Language interpreters during his visits to the hospital. Williams is completely deaf.
Read the full complaint below.
Williams describes a series of visits to the hospital — dating back to 2007 — during which he claims the Clinic either ignored his requests for an ASL interpreter or failed to ensure that one would be present. (On a few occasions, the Clinic would provide an interpreter who communicated in “signed English,” which differs from ASL.)
As the suit states: “Vague or inaccurate interpreting creates a higher risk that patients will misunderstand their own diagnoses, prognoses, or proper courses of action. It also generates confusion, stress, and anxiety during already highly stressful and sensitive situations.”
Clinic officials responded to Scene‘s request for comment on the matter: “We are committed to ensuring all patients can access our services and receive the highest quality care. We take these matters seriously and are currently reviewing the information.”
This article appears in Oct 28 – Nov 3, 2015.
November 4, 2015
I can understand Charles Williams’ frustrations for not getting an ASL interpreter for his appointment at the Cleveland Clinic. I feel badly that Mr. Williams’ request for an interpreter was not honored.
The question is… Was the appointment made in advance through a phone call? Or… was it made through Cleveland Clinic’s website “My Chart” which would have enabled the medical office to make interpreter arrangements ahead of schedule. This is the best choice for fast service than a phone call. Mr. Williams should have contacted the Ohio Association of the Deaf to advocate for him.
It should make no difference. The ADA guarantees equal access. This is disgraceful. The fact that CC Durant have a staff interpreter is shocking.
My Brother was deaf (he is deceased now) and he had the hardest time when he was in the hospital to get an interpreter, appointments weren’t so bad because he would make them far enough but when he was in there was another matter, one time I even asked them if he was from another country would they get an interpreter and she said yes and I said well this is no different and you people are discrimanating aaist him
I understand the frustration and hardship of always needing an interpreter, but let’s talk about the emergency room visit. You’re upset because you went alone to an emergency room and there was no one there waiting to be an interpreter for you? If you can’t talk, isn’t it your responsibility to find a way to talk? He absolutely has a reason to be frustrated when systems are not followed and the clinic was supposed to have someone present and just failed, but other demands are just unreasonable. I mean, what’s next, someone walks in to a clinic emergency room only speaking (insert language here), so they sue because the clinic doesn’t have at least one person on staff who can speak any given language on the earth? I think “reasonable expectation” is the key phrase here. You can have a reasonable expectation that if you make an appointment ahead of time and are known to be deaf, that the clinic would be able to get someone for you that can help you. ER visit? Not so much. I look forward to hearing how much $$$ gets thrown around because of all this.