Deaf Inmate Loses Bid For Services In Delaware

Sussex Correctional Institution inmate loses bid for services.

DOVER, DE -- Delaware State News: A Deaf inmate’s appeal for equal accommodations under law while incarcerated was denied in Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Robert Ovens, held at Sussex Correctional Institution, challenged an earlier Superior Court ruling that prisons were not places of public accommodation, thus limiting his ability to communicate by telephone while incarcerated.

The Supreme Court found that a prison does not meet the core definition of a place of public accommodation as “any establishment which caters to or offers goods or services of facilities to, or solicits patronage from, the general public.

“The definition includes state agencies, local government agencies, and state-funded agencies performing public functions.”

Mr. Ovens was housed at SCI three separate times between May 12, 2010 and May 1, 2013, and filed a complaint with the Delaware Human Relations Commission regarding accommodations there.

According to court papers, the Commission held by a 2 to 1 vote that prisons did fall under the Delaware Equal Accommodations Law on Dec. 16, 2014 and subsequently awarded Ovens damages, attorney’s fees and other costs.

“The (Commission) majority found that the Equal Accommodations Law was violated because Owens had to wait additional periods of time to use the text telephone, and the DOC failed to provide him with an interpreter for his educational programs and his classification review,” the Supreme Court noted in the nine-page decision.

“The dissenting Commission member concluded that the Commission did not have subject matter jurisdiction over Ovens’ complaint because a prison is not a place of public accommodation.”

The decision was reversed in Superior Court, and Ovens then took the matter to Supreme Court.

While state-funded agencies fall under the law, the Supreme Court reasoned that “A prison like SCI is inherently different from a park or museum, in that a prison is not designed to solicit or cater to the general public for its entertainment and recreational value. …”

The DOC is a state agency, not designed to provide inmate goods and services to the public, the Supreme Court reasoned but exists to “provide for the treatment, rehabilitation, and restoration of offenders as useful, law-abiding citizens within the community,” according to Delaware Code.

Text telephone access

According to the Court, Owens “communicates primarily through American Sign Language and requires special accommodations, such as a text telephone device when making telephone calls.”

Owens alleged that access to the text telephone was either limited or denied, and he was required to “request permission to use the text telephone by submitting a counselor’s slip, while other inmates had free access to the telephones during their recreational periods.

“Additionally, Ovens alleged that the DOC and Warden (G.R.) Johnson did not accommodate his deafness when they failed to provide him with an interpreter for his anger management and substance abuse classes, and for his classification meetings.”

When the Commission first dismissed his complaint as not in its jurisdiction, Owens appealed to Superior Court, which remanded it for further explanation. Superior Court later ruled in Short v. Delaware that prisons were not places of public accommodation, followed by the Commission’s decision that the DOC violated Delaware Code.

SOURCE - Delaware State News

Firing of Deaf Employee Costs Firm $240K

Deaf News: Deaf ex-employee’s court case puts bosses on notice for behaving badly in Mississauga, Canada.

TORONTO, ON -- The Canadian Press: A long-time employee tormented by her employer and unceremoniously dumped after she went Deaf had her damages award more than doubled to $246,000 by Ontario’s top court on Thursday.

In its decision, the Appeal Court ruled the egregious nature of the company’s “heartless” misconduct warranted significantly higher damages for Vicky Strudwick.

“In the lead-up to Ms. Strudwick’s termination, she was belittled, isolated, humiliated and made to suffer the effects of her disability to the greatest extent possible,” the Appeal Court said.

“This conduct was deliberate, malicious and designed to force Ms. Strudwick to quit a job she had held for almost 16 years.”

Court documents show that Strudwick worked for Applied Consumer and Clinical Evaluations, a family-run business based in Mississauga, Ont., that recruits people to participate in focus groups. She began by doing data entry, but later instructed recruiting staff, earning $12.85 an hour.

In October 2010, she went completely Deaf - possibly because of a virus.

Court records show that Andrew Hoffman, the general manager, and a supervisor, Liz Camilleri, then began a concerted campaign of abuse against Strudwick aimed at forcing her to quit.

They not only denied her any accommodation for her disability, but actually took steps to make her life even more difficult, the court said.

In May 2011, Hoffman fired her, allegedly for pulling a “stunt” at a company event, prompting Strudwick, then 56, to sue for wrongful dismissal and abuse.

Applied Consumer never delivered a statement of defence and was noted in default.

In August last year, Superior Court Justice Grant Dow awarded her a total of $113,782 and $40,000 in legal costs. Strudwick appealed the damages award as too low, while Applied Consumer - which has about 80 employees - argued the legal costs award was too high.

The Appeal Court affirmed the costs award, but found Strudwick deserved much more by way of damages given the “cruel” treatment to which her bosses had subjected her.

Examples included giving her instructions while preventing her from lip reading, then calling her stupid. They refused to let her turn her desk around so that she could see people as they approached.

“In the immediate lead-up to her dismissal, Ms. Strudwick was confronted in front of an estimated 13 other employees, yelled at and called a ‘goddamned fool’,” the Appeal Court stated.

Hoffman, who would later himself be fired, gave her a termination letter and a cheque for three months’ pay. When she refused to sign a release, he took the cheque back and had her marched out of the building in front of her co-workers.

Applied Consumer, which claims to foster an environment of “empowerment, engagement, fairness and responsibility,” then claimed she had been fired for insubordination and wilful misconduct - a tactic that delayed her access to employment insurance.

On appeal, Strudwick argued for more than $1 million, but the court said its hands were tied by her initial statement of claim, which sought $240,000 plus an amount for loss of benefits.

The Appeal Court said she deserved her full claim for damages in light of the “malicious and heartless” treatment meted out to her. It also awarded another $20,000 in costs for the appeal.

SOURCE - BlackBurnNews

Finland School Fined In Deaf Discrimination Case

Deaf News: Helsinki Design School fined in Deaf discrimination case.

HELSINKI -- The Helsinki District Court has slapped a fine 1,200-euro on the head of a private Helsinki Design School for retracting its offer of a place to a Deaf applicant. The court found the institution and its principal guilty of discrimination but the defendants say they are considering an appeal.

Back in 2014, privately-run Helsinki Design School turned away design student Oskari Salomaa, citing insufficient resources to provide interpreter services. The institution had previously accepted Salomaa for the year-long program, but retracted the place when it learned of his special needs.

On Monday, the Helsinki District Court ruled that the school had violated non-discrimination laws in refusing Salomaa the opportunity to study.

The court imposed a fine of 1,280 euros on the school CEO and also called on the institution and its chief executive to compensate Salomaa to the tune of 8,000 euros. The defendants are also required to settle Salomaa’s legal expenses, which amounted to nearly 8,500 euros.

Salomaa said that he was pleased with the outcome.

"This means that sign language users have a right to be part of Finnish society. I won’t appeal the decision," Salomaa said after the ruling.

Lawyer for the defendants, Jaana Juutilainen said that she was disappointed with the court’s decision.

"It’s very likely that we will see fit to take the case to the Court of Appeal," Juutilainen remarked. Read The Full Story

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Related Documentary:
Deaf Awareness: Alone In A Deaf World
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A Hearing Son In Deaf Family 'I'd Rather Be Deaf'
Life and Deaf - BBC4 Documentary
Through Deaf Eyes - Documentary Film
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Deaf Canadian Schools In Lawsuit Alleging Abuse

Deaf News: Canadian schools for the Deaf facing lawsuit alleging abuse.

HALIFAX -- A Halifax law firm says it has filed a statement of claim in Nova Scotia Supreme Court alleging systemic sexual, physical, and mental abuse against Deaf children who attended two segregated residential schools in the province.

Lawyer Ray Wagner says Wednesday's move is an important step in a proposed class action lawsuit that still needs to be certified by a judge before proceeding to trial.

The schools named in the claim are the School for the Deaf in Halifax and the Interprovincial School for the Education of the Deaf in Amherst.

The Nova Scotia government has also been named as a defendant in allegations that have not been proven in court.

The claim alleges the province, which was responsible for the operation and oversight of the institutions, chose not to properly investigate or stop the abuse and mistreatment of the children, and that its actions constitute negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.

The law firm says that to date it has been contacted by over 150 former students of the two schools.

SOURCE - CBC News

Another class action was proposed in 2010 by Merchant Law group of Saskatchewan. Two other men were named as lead plaintiffs in that action. But there's no indication it has proceeded beyond the initial filing.

60 people signed up.

There have also been criminal allegations against staff at the schools over the years.

Wagner said a lot of people have already expressed interest in joining this proposed class action.

"We held a town hall meeting at the Halifax library where there were approximately 80 people had attended to listen to what we were saying and proposing with a class action," Wagner told CBC News.

"And already at this early stage we have 60 people that have signed up."

Wagner's firm also a multi-million dollar settlement in the Home for Coloured Children case.

"We're hearing the same stories, the same narrative," Wagner said. "It is a very common experience, both by people in the school for the Deaf and the Nova Scotia Home for Coloured children."

Wagner said people wanting to join the lawsuit over the schools for the Deaf will have to be patient. He said the suit must wait two months before the next step is taken, and he predicts any litigation is still many months away.

SOURCE - CBC News

Class action lawsuit alleges abuse at Ontario schools for the Deaf.

Four provincial schools for the Deaf named in $325-million lawsuit.

TORONTO -- A Toronto man alleges he was abused for years at Ontario schools for the Deaf and has launched a class action lawsuit on behalf of other former students against the provincial government.

The statement of claim, filed Monday in Ontario Superior Court of Justice, alleges sexual, physical and mental abuse at four provincially run schools for the Deaf over the course of decades.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

Christopher Welsh, in his statment of claim, accuses the province of negligence in the establishment, funding, operation, management and supervision of schools in Ottawa, London, Belleville and Milton.

"Students have suffered sexual, physical and emotional abuse at the hands of teachers, residence counsellors, other students and employees of the schools," reads the statement of claim.

A spokesman for the province's Ministry of Education would not comment on the case as it is before the courts, but said the current government believes every child deserves high-quality education and a supportive learning environment.

"Over the years, we have been committed to ensuring students in our schools have access to the supports and resources they need to succeed," said Gary Wheeler. "This includes our most vulnerable students."

Welsh went to two of the schools named in the class-action suit -- Ernest C. Drury School for the Deaf in Milton, Ont., where he lived from the time he was five years old in 1964, followed by Robarts School for the Deaf in London, Ont., according to the claim.

He said he was forced to wear hearing aids and was repeatedly struck across his ears, leaving him bloodied and in pain.

'Form of punishment'

Welsh's claim also alleges he was hit with rolled up magazines across his hands and beaten with a stick and belt by teachers as "a form of punishment" for using sign language instead of speech when conversing with other students.

He alleges teachers and counsellors often snuck up behind him, taking advantage of his hearing problems, and would grab him at the urinal and slam him into a wall or rip the chair out from under him as he was sat doing homework.

Later, when he attended the Robarts School for the Deaf, the abuse continued, according to the claim.

A counsellor at Robarts, wearing leather boots with pointed toes, repeatedly ambushed Welsh and kicked him in the buttocks, leaving him bruised and in pain when sitting. The counsellor did the same thing to other students, the claim alleges.

Teachers and staff often called him "Deaf and Dumb."

The statement of claim suggests Welsh was not alone.

"Hundreds, if not thousands" of students may have been affected, said Welsh's lawyer, Robert Gain, with the firm Koskie Minsky.

Teachers hit students in the mouth to teach them how to talk, the claim charges.

If students didn't use speech to communicate, teachers would "forcefully hold students' arms and restrain them" so they couldn't use sign language.

The statement of claim alleges counsellors took advantage of the students' hearing problems by sneaking up, often under their beds, to grab their feet and pull them down. Other students would have to lie face down on their beds as counsellors spanked them repeatedly, causing injuries in many cases, according to the claim.

Gain said he has spoken with other survivors who shared similar stories of alleged abuse. Two other schools, Belleville's Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf and Ottawa's Centre Jules-Leger in Ottawa have also been named in the lawsuit.

Gain said Welsh "wanted to bring this case forward and shine a light on the problem so that others would have access to justice and could have their stories heard and the province held responsible and accountable for the misconduct."

"The province certainly had a duty to have proper procedures and oversight and they failed to live up to their obligations to these vulnerable students," he said, adding he believes there may be more former students who want to share their stories.

Gain said the next step is to seek certification -- the court's permission -- to continue the case. The lawsuit is seeking $325 million in damages.

SOURCE - CBC News

This madness must be stopped immediately!

Related Posts: #DeafSchools - #DeafCanadians

Deaf Pair Accused Of Murder Unfit To Stand Trial

Deaf News - Deaf pair accused of murder unfit to stand trial due to mental impairment, Australian Supreme Court told.

MELBOURNE -- Psychiatrists have found two of three Deaf people accused of murdering a profoundly Deaf man, who fell 12 metres from an apartment balcony, unfit to stand trial due to mental impairment.

Crown prosecutor Sharn Coombes told the Supreme Court on Monday that Georgia Fields, 19, and Jake Fairest, 26, who are on bail, had been assessed and found to be unfit to stand trial. A third man, Warwick Toohey, 37, who appeared via video link from prison, needed further assessment.

Justice Lex Lasry reserved any decision as to whether the trio's trial would proceed until next year.

A trial date had been set down for May 2, but Justice Lasry adjourned the case to February 8, when a directions hearing will be held to get an update on the fitness to plead question for the trio.

Ms Fields, Mr Toohey and Mr Fairest are charged with murdering Robbie Wright, who fell from a balcony outside his Ringwood apartment on January 15. Mr Wright, 36, who also suffered from cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and had an intellectual disability, died in hospital three days later.

Ms Fields is profoundly Deaf and can communicate only by sign language and in writing.

Mr Fairest has severe cognitive and developmental disabilities caused by aggressive chemotherapy treatment to a brain tumour when he was seven. The treatment also caused stunted growth, a weakened spine and a growth hormone deficiency.

Previous court hearings have been told Mr Wright and Mr Toohey lived together but were constantly arguing over household tasks. Both men had allegedly previously "shared" Ms Fields as a girlfriend.

The trio allegedly confronted Mr Wright in his lounge room, restrained him and forced him out on to the balcony and over the hand rail... Read The Full Story.

Related: DailyMail - Three Deaf Accused Murderers Were Caught on CCTV Signing Whether to Strangle Their Victim or Throw Him Off a Balcony, Court Told