Deaf Immigrant Awarded $250K Settlement

Deaf Man receives $250K settlement after being jailed with no access to interpreter in Virginia.

ARLINGTON, Virginia -- NBC4 Washington: A Deaf man will receive a $250,000 settlement from the Arlington County Sheriff's Office after it failed to provide a sign language interpreter for him while he was jailed, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Friday.

The man, Abreham Zemedagegehu, has said he spent part of his six-week stay at the Arlington County Detention Facility in 2014 unaware of the charges against him. The Justice Department launched an investigation into Zemedagegehu's claim last year.

NBC News covered a story about Abreham Zemedagegehu and his experience in jail without an interpreter.

"I felt like I was losing my mind," Zemedagegehu said through an interpreter in an interview at his lawyer's office. "I thought Virginia would give me an interpreter and they said no. That's why I felt lost."

Zemedagegehu also said the jail failed provide a communications device to help him communicate with his lawyer and performed medical procedures on him without explaining them or getting his consent.

A native of Ethiopia, he can communicate in American Sign Language but is largely unable to communicate in written English.

Zemedagegehu sued the sheriff's office in federal court, saying his treatment failed to meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Among the concerns raised in his lawsuit was the jail's reliance on teletypewriter devices to allow Deaf inmates to communicate with people outside the jail. The sheriff's office has defended its use of the TTY machine, but Zemedagegehu's lawsuit said the device is useless for someone who can't read English and obsolete because videophones are now used predominantly in the Deaf community.

Zemedagegehu's ordeal began Feb. 2, 2014, when he was arrested after being accused of stealing another man's iPad. He said he pleaded guilty to the charge because a plea bargain offered him a sentence of time served. Later, though, the man who accused him of the theft said he'd found the device and rescinded his accusation.

Under the settlement, the sheriff's office will pay $250,000 to Zemedagegehu, and must take steps to comply with the ADA. This includes appointing an ADA coordinator, providing ADA training to its staff, and ensuring that auxiliary aids and services are provided. The Justice Department said the sheriff's office has taken several steps to improve its ADA compliance even before finalizing the settlement agreement.

"People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing must be able to communicate clearly with law enforcement officials," said Tracy Doherty-McCormick, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in a statement Friday. "Through this settlement agreement, the Arlington County Sheriff has taken important steps to ensure that the operations of the Arlington County Detention Facility are in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act."

Source: Deaf Man Receives $250K Settlement After Being Jailed With No Access to Interpreter in Arlington | NBC4 Washington.

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Ethiopian Immigrant's Role Model For Deaf Inmates

WATCH [CC] - Deaf News: Ethiopian immigrant is a role model for Deaf inmates in the United States.

A Deaf Ethiopian immigrant is the new champion for US inmates with hearing impairments. Abreham Zemedagegehu, 41, whose case is causing debate in the US, is suing the powerful sheriff of Arlington, Virginia, for failing to take into account his disabilities during his detention following a theft in 2014.

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“In prison, no one could communicate with me,” Abreham Zemedagegehu told the magistrates. This caused him to suffer inhuman and degrading treatment, to the point that he often missed lunch and dinner because he couldn’t hear the bell for mealtimes. Not to mention that he couldn’t communicate with the outside world because there was no phone equipment to meet his needs. Neither was he given access to a doctor who could understand the medications he required.

Moreover, according to some of the major human rights organisations, Abreham Zemedagegehu is no exception. He’s just proof of a prison system that is not equipped to provide the basic services for prisoners with hearing disabilities, who represent between 5% and 7% of the entire prison population.

Non-governmental organizations say that even small changes would be enough to change things drastically. Some state prisons in the US even state-run prisons in Virginia have become role models to imitate. Arlington prison, where Abreham is detained, is under federal jurisdiction, however, so doesn’t fall into this category. Many state prisons now provide access for the Deaf to electronic message boards for announcements and video phones for calls to family and friends. While there are sign language interpreters for circumstances such as professional courses, disciplinary hearings or medical visits.

SOURCE

NOTE: Deaf YouVideo has learned, the West Welfare Society Territory web-site posted an error picture of Kenneth Felix Jr aka KenX50 instead of Abreham Zemedagegehu as seen HERE.

Related:
Deaf Man Jailed With No Access To Interpreter
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Deaf Man Jailed With No Access To Interpreter

Deaf immigrant jailed for stealing iPad that wasn't stolen and no access to interpreter service in Virginia.



ARLINGTON, VA -- He knew he was in jail, but he didn't know why. Eventually, Abreham Zemedagegehu learned that he'd been accused of stealing an iPad, an iPad whose owner later found it. He spent the next six weeks in jail, unable to communicate with his jailers because he is Deaf. He described a frightening, isolated experience in which medical procedures were performed without his consent and he feared for his safety.

Zemedagegehu sued the Arlington County sheriff last month in federal court, saying his treatment failed to meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"I felt like I was losing my mind," Zemedagegehu said through an interpreter in an interview at his lawyer's office. "I thought Virginia would give me an interpreter and they said no. That's why I felt lost."

Zemedagegehu, who is homeless, is a U.S. citizen who was born in Ethiopia. He grew up using Ethiopian Sign Language. He has learned American Sign Language, but he has never learned more than rudimentary written English.

Maj. Susie Doyel, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office, which runs the jail, declined to comment on the specific allegations. She generally defended the jail's ability to handle Deaf inmates and others with disabilities, and said several deputies in the jail are proficient in sign language.

But she also acknowledged that communication with a Deaf inmate is more problematic in cases where the inmate can't communicate in written English.

In court papers filed Monday, lawyers for the sheriff ask a judge to dismiss the case, arguing that even if Zemedagegehu's allegations are true, they fail to show intentional discrimination because they attempted various different ways to communicate with him, including handwritten notes.

And even if the discrimination were intentional, the lawyers write that it would not violate federal law because there is a rational basis for the discrimination: "it takes extra resources and creates additional security considerations to bring in an ASL interpreter," they write... Read The Full Story.

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