Taco Bell Worker Refuses Service To Deaf Man

Taco Bell employee fired after video shows him refusing to serve man who is Deaf.

KETTERING, OH -- NBC News: A Taco Bell employee in Ohio was fired after he was accused of refusing to serve a Deaf man who was trying to use his cellphone to place an order in the drive-thru.

In a video of the encounter at a Taco Bell in Kettering on New Year's Eve, 25-year-old Brandon Washburn is seen trying to get the workers' attention by holding his phone up to the closed window.

When one worker finally opened the window, he's heard in the video telling the man: “It’s against company policy. I can’t do it.”

Washburn's mother, Becky Rosemont Burch, who posted the video Wednesday on her Facebook page, told NBC News in a phone interview on Friday that her son always uses his phone to write his order when he's in the drive-thru.

“He has done this many times before at other restaurants, and has never had a problem,” she said.

Burch said the worker seen in the video was trying to tell Washburn that it was against company policy to take the order through the drive-thru and wanted her son to come inside.

“He didn’t understand what the problem was,” Burch said about her son, adding that he “knew he was being discriminated against.”

“There were several people you could see in the video, and no one tried to help,” she said.

At one point in the video, the Taco Bell worker is seen shaking his head at Washburn before closing the window and walking away. Washburn continued to try and get the workers' attention.

When the Taco Bell employee returned and saw Washburn still at the window, he is heard threatening to call 911.

"And you’re also not allowed to record me," the worker added, pointing to Washburn's girlfriend, who Burch said was filming the encounter.

Burch said in her Facebook post that the employee discriminated against her son because he is Deaf.

“I taught him to be independent,” she told NBC News. “It was just very hurtful. It’s not like deafness is anything new.”

The video has been shared on Facebook more than 12,000 times with many comments calling out the worker.

Taco Bell said in a statement to NBC News that the worker, who was not identified, “no longer works for their organization” and all other employees at the Kettering location would be “retrained” on their policies.

“Taco Bell has a fundamental policy to respect all of our customers and employees, and we are committed to maintaining an environment free of discrimination or harassment,” the company said.

The National Association of the Deaf said in a statement to NBC News that all national fast-food restaurants with a drive-thru should "work with our organization to develop and disseminate a systemic fix so that none of their franchises and facilities ever again deny service to Deaf and Hard of Hearing customers."

SOURCE - NBC News

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Deaf Women More Likely to be a Victim of Abuse

Deaf individuals are more likely to experience domestic violence than hearing individuals in the United States.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Newsnet5: Deaf individuals are one and a half times more likely to be victims of relationship violence than hearing individuals, according to research out of the Rochester Institute of Technology.

"He would grab me, push me down, kept pushing me down, hitting me," said Dawn Marie Fucile, a Cleveland resident who is Deaf. She spoke through an interpreter.

Fucile recalls her three-year abusive relationship which she says happened in Parma two decades ago.

"He got a hold of me and threw me physically, coffee table," she said of her ex-boyfriend who is also Deaf. "I missed it by just an inch."

Fucile, who is 48 years old, said she finally mustered up the strength to call the police. Twice, officers came to her house. Twice, they left without arresting the man.

"Both of the officers that were there, I could understand them, but they were being like 'oh poor you. You can't communicate," she added.

Fucile said the lack of communication services and education among police at that time contributed to a lack of help.

"We know that there are more victims that are Deaf and Hard of Hearing that don't have access to information or services, and that's a big problem," said Linda Johanek, CEO of the Domestic Violence & Child Advocacy Center in Cleveland.

Johanek, with help from the Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center and Cleveland Police, are trying to reverse the problem, which Johanek and Fucile said is only exacerbated by the fact that the Deaf community is tight-knit. For a member, it is difficult to break away, no matter the circumstance.

Through a federal grant, the domestic violence center, its shelter and all five police districts have iPads equipped with video remote interpreters. Officers can take the iPads with them on calls.

Fucile said the technology is a big step in the right direction.

"Do not be afraid to ask for help," she added. "I got help because I decided to move on."

Parma police said they now use a text messaging service to communicate with Deaf Individuals. For in-depth interviews, Parma and Cleveland police said they bring in live interpreters.

Fucile said her ex-boyfriend was eventually charged and convicted of domestic violence.

SOURCE - NewsNet

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What It's Like To Be Deaf On University Campus

Students face challenges as Kirsten Pribula talks about her experiences of being Deaf on campus in the United States.

ATHENS, Ohio -- The Post: At age 23, Kirsten Pribula heard a water sprinkler for the first time. She stood in the middle of College Green for a few minutes trying to preserve the moment and remember the sound.

Pribula lost her hearing between the ages of 3 and 4 due to autoimmune inner ear disease. AIED is a progressive hearing loss condition caused when the immune system attacks the inner ear, according to the American Hearing Research Foundation.

Pribula underwent cochlear implant surgery - a surgery where a device that improves hearing is placed in the inner ear - when she was 8 years old. The surgery allows her to hear partially, but Pribula still relies heavily on lip reading and interpreters, she said.

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In group conversations, Pribula said she often needs an interpreter because it is hard to keep up with the back-and-forth nature of the setting.

“But with one-on-one conversations, I do really well because … I can read lips well,” Pribula said.

Despite the problems she faces because of her hearing loss, she still chose to come to Ohio University. Pribula was also looking at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the only university in the nation designed specifically to eliminate barriers for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students, but Gallaudet did not offer Pribula the major she wanted to pursue.

Pribula, a junior studying graphic design, thought she was the only student who is Deaf on campus, but according to Carey Busch, the assistant dean of student accessibility, there are between 15 and 18 students on Ohio University’s Athens campus that are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. The group makes up less than one-tenth of a percent of the campus’ student population.

Although Pribula often feels overlooked by the general student body, there are some offices at OU actively working to accommodate students, who are Deaf, in and out of the classroom... Read The Full Story.

Elderly Deaf Couple Had Been Dead Inside Home

Deaf News: An elderly couple had been dead inside their Ohio home for weeks before police found them last Thursday.

MADISONVILLE, OH -- A couple had been dead inside their Madisonville home for weeks before authorities discovered their bodies Thursday, according to Cincinnati Police.

Spokesperson Tiffaney Hardy said the couple accidentally left their vehicle running in the garage on Bramble Avenue, near Edith Avenue. Both were Deaf and likely didn’t hear the engine, Hardy said.

Initial reports indicate they died as a result of asphyxiation from the fumes.

The bodies were discovered when someone went to check on the couple after not hearing from them for several weeks.

"They are frequent church goers and had not been seen by other church members as well as community members became concerned about not having seen them," family friend James Jawarek told FOX19 NOW.

Jawarek identified the couple as Wayne Flammer and Joan Flammer.

The family of the victims gathered around the home and were in shock that this could happen. Jawarek described the couple as good Christians.

"Very friendly," Jawarek said. "They got along with people."

SOURCE - FOX News

CPD Gets New VRS Equipment To Assist Deafies

Deaf News: Cleveland Police Department gets new video relay service equipment to assist Deaf community.

CLEVELAND, OH -- The Cleveland Police Department has invested in new equipment to help its officers better serve the Deaf community.

The department announced Wednesday that all officers have been trained to use video technology that gives them instant access to an American Sign Language interpreter.

Officials from the police department and local advocates for the hearing-impaired demonstrated the new equipment Thursday.

"The reality is there are barriers in place for some members of our community," Cleveland police Capt. James McPike said. "This grant was intended to try to remove those barriers for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community."

Each of the city's five police districts is stocked with an iPad equipped with the ZVRS video interpreter application. The application gives officers dealing with a Deaf crime victim, suspect or witness access to an interpreter within seconds.

The technology was purchased using a portion of a $350,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women that was awarded to the department in 2011, Cleveland police Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said.

The Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center and the Domestic Violence and Child Advocacy Center helped train the police force.

Deaf women in the U.S. experience domestic and sexual violence at rates twice those of hearing women, according to the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit organization that advocates for fairness in the justice system. Yet they often encounter barriers when seeking help, from a phone-based 911 system to having their credibility as witnesses in court questioned.

The police department purchased the equipment after getting feedback from the Deaf community, said Maria O'Neil Ruddock, coordinator of training and outreach services for the Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center.

"The reason it's here is because the Deaf community has told us, 'We want access to the police, we want to be able to communicate, but it's difficult,'" O'Neil Ruddock said.

Cleveland is only one of two large police departments in the country using this technology, she added.

The department is also updating its general police orders to include a policy about communicating with the Deaf, McPike said. A draft of that policy is still in the approval stage.

Ciaccia said the interpreting technology is not related to a binding agreement with the Justice Department that requires the Cleveland police to improve the way they interact with citizens. The addition of the technology is the latest in a string of efforts by the department to expand training.

Mayor Frank Jackson announced in December that officers received first aid training and emergency medical kits.

The Cleveland Police Academy class that graduated in October was the first to receive 40 hours of crisis intervention training.

SOURCE - CLEVELANDMETRO

Deaf Customers Dodged Bullets, Tackled Gunman

WATCH [CC] - Deaf News: Customers who are Deaf dodged bullets, tackled gunman inside Ohio gas station.

PARMA -- Exclusive interview with customers after Parma Police say a 21-year-old man walked into a Sunoco gas station and fatally shot its owner during a robbery, the man turned to two customers who are Deaf.

“And when he pulled out that gun, I grabbed him, I grabbed him,” said Steve, Sr., a Parma resident who spoke through an interpreter. He and his son did want their last name used.

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Steve, Sr. said the gunman, who police identify as Logan Sinclair, pointed his weapon at him.

“I grabbed the shooter, and I knocked him in the head,” he added. “I knocked him in the head with his own gun.”

But Sinclair wrestled the gun back and then made Steve's son the target at point blank range.

“[I was shot at] two times,” said Steve, Jr. “Right in my head, and I just kept ducking, and it went right past me.”

“It was just pop, pop, pop all over the place,” said Steve, Sr. “But you know what, I grabbed his wrist, twisted it, and the gun fell.”

They said that's when the suspect ran out of the Sunoco station on Pearl Road. The owner, Bob Sposit, lay there. His life was quickly slipping away.

“I was trying to feel the carotid artery to see if he was still breathing,” said Steve, Sr. “But I couldn't feel anything. There was nothing left. There was nothing.”

Steve, Sr. said he and Sposit were good friends for the past 15 years. He described Sposit as someone who was nice and funny.

Sinclair is in jail on $3 million bond. His case will go to a Cuyahoga County grand jury. Steve, Jr. and Steve, Sr. are uninjured.

SOURCE - WEWS NewsChannel5

Girl & Deaf Grandparents Killed In House Fire

Girl and Deaf grandparents killed in house fire hours before rape trial in the small town of Ohio.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- A northeast Ohio prosecutor says a 10-year-old girl died in a house fire early Monday morning, hours before a man suspected of raping her was scheduled to go on trial.

A total of three people were reported dead by the Youngstown Fire Department after the blaze on the city’s south side.

Neighbors in the 3600-block of Powers Way say they heard a loud explosion around 3:30 a.m.; moments later, they saw flames rip through the two-story home. “I looked out the window and the fire broke out from the bottom of the basement, just whoosh. And it was totally on fire.”

Dozens of firefighters were needed to control the flames. When it was out, firefighters found the bodies of two adults and their 10-year-old granddaughter. The adults are identified as Billy and Judy Schmidt, both in their 60s.

“Everybody who knew Billy loved him. He had friends all over the United States, he could probably go anywhere in the country and probably run into somebody that he knew,” said Connie Glozier, the victim’s sister.

The Schmidts, who were both Deaf, were raising their granddaughter. Neighbor Pamela Jones says the girl played with her grandchildren.

“I just can’t believe that something like this would happen,” said Jones. “I’ve been crying all day.”

Adding to the tragedy of this fire, the 10-year-old girl was the victim of an alleged sexual assault. The suspect, identified as 45-year-old Robert Seman, appeared in court this morning.

“On literally the eve of trial, hours before this trial was supposed to begin, this victim dies in a fire under suspicious circumstances, at the very least,” said Mahoning County Assistant District Attorney Stephanie McLaughlin. “Only 10 years old, somebody who did not deserve these things that happened to her.”

Seman has not been charged in connection with the fire, but his bond was revoked and he was taken to jail. If convicted on the rape charges, he could face a maximum sentence of life in prison... Read The Full Story.

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Deaf Pilot Gets License In Ohio

Deaf News: Deaf woman pilot gets license that not going to stop her from taking to the sky.

LANCASTER, OH -- Learning to fly is no easy feat, but Lancaster native Jenny Hurst was not going to let being Deaf stop her from taking to the sky.

From a young age, Hurst dreamed of being a pilot like her grandfather, a captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. She has always been drawn to flying, she said, and before 9/11, one of her favorite things to do was to watch planes take off from Port Columbus International Airport. In her younger years, she went as far as telling boyfriends plane-watching was her preferred way to spend a date.

Aware of that desire, Hurst’s husband of 17 years, Adam, looked into flight lessons at Sundowner Aviation at the Fairfield County Airport for his wife, who has been Deaf since the age of 2. Officials there agreed to take her on, and one year later, after fitting in two to three hours of flight instruction per week, Hurst got her pilot license. She took her first solo flight July 18.

On Sunday, Hurst took her family up in the plane for the first time, although the family of six could not all fit in one flight. Hurst hopes to become registered in instrument flight rules so she can be allowed to fly larger planes that will fit her entire family.

Another use for the pilot license may be flying materials from suppliers to Hammock Gear, the backpacking outfitter the Hursts own in Lancaster. While Hurst would love to be a pilot for hire, she said she is still exploring her limits as a Deaf pilot and her abilities with communication... Read The Full Story.

Deaf Boy Signs With Dragons Mascot

Baseball club Dayton Dragons mascot signs to 7-year-old Deaf child.

DAYTON, Ohio -- It is a video being shared around the web after young, Deaf boy from Germantown made a connection with the Dayton Dragons mascot, Heater, that no one was expecting.

Hunter may be a bit camera shy, but he is not shy about his favorite team. "I met heater and Gem," signed the seven year old. The Samworths were at the game on Saturday.

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"We were outside getting ready to go in and there was Heater and Gem so Hunter ran up. And so next thing you know, I'm telling Hunter, say. 'It's nice to meet you,'" said Hunter's Mom, Cheri Samworth.

Unexpectedly, a Green Team member escorting Heater, starting signing back to him. So Dad started recording it and that is when the mascot himself joined in. They exchanged names and talked about the big game.

"You can see on the video, his smile is like, he's gets me, he speaks my language, he understands me, Just a completely different experience for Hunter," Cheri said.

"It just froze, everything froze. It was just, the look on his face was just priceless," said Hunter's Dad, Matt Samworth. The Dragons are away so Heater and members of the Green Team have the day off.

SOURCE

Deaf Puppy Dumped On Busy Ohio Highway

Hundreds calling with adoption questions on Deaf puppy dumped near Portage County highway.

AKRON, Ohio -- An estimated 800 people have called One of a Kind Pets Rescue to inquire about a Deaf puppy that was left inside a cardboard box near a highway last month. "Everybody wants to meet this puppy that has gotten so much exposure," said Georjette Thomas from One of a Kind.

The puppy, a 9-week-old Jack Russell terrier mix named Cara, was found in a shoebox on the side of Tallmadge Road in Brimfield Township on Jan 12.

She had a hairline fracture in a front leg and open wounds. Animal experts determined the puppy was Deaf after she didn't respond to commands.

"To think that this puppy was disposable by somebody or to somebody is unfathomable to us," Thomas said. Since news spread that Cara is available for adoption, One of a Kind has been flooded with calls and visitors.

Many people have already filled out adoption papers and dozens more are expected... Read The Full Story.

Deaf puppy left in shoebox on Brimfield highway up for adoption.

The Deaf Jack Russell terrier dumped in a box on the side of Tallmadge Road last month is ready to go to a real home.

Police Chief David Oliver is still looking for the person who abandoned the disabled dog on the side of a busy highway. The pup, named "Cara," is now available for adoption at One of a Kind Pets in Akron.

"Cara is still a little peanut, but she appears to have doubled her size," says a story on petfinder.com. "She is Deaf and does very well mimicking the other dogs in her foster home. She follows the pack."

A motorist spotted the pooch and brought the dog to the police station. Oliver posted a picture on the department's Facebook page, where it has generated a lot of interest. The puppy was turned over to One of a Kind... Read The Full Story.

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