Deaf man complains nudists would not provide interpreter

[The Northerner]

(Reuters) - A deaf man has accused a nudist park in upstate New York of violating federal law by refusing to provide him with a sign-language interpreter at an annual festival.

Tom Willard, 53, of Rochester, filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department claiming Empire Haven Nudist Park violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by refusing his requests for an interpreter.

"I am fed up with being turned away every time I try to do something, by idiots who somehow feel the ADA does not apply to them," Willard wrote in the complaint.

The ADA law requires businesses and nonprofit groups to provide auxiliary aids and services, including interpreters, at no additional cost to users. First-time violations can lead to fines of up to $55,000.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/09/us-deaf-nudist-idUSTRE7783Q420110809

[MichiganVote]

1. Trying to picture this without laughing.

[DCKit]

4. No kidding.

Who goes to a nudist colony to chat? Creepy people, that's who.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

13. I would seek a settlement that included an interpreter and a trampoline

but that's probably just me.

[DCKit]

29. You are one sick individual. I love it. nt

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

2. Puppet show!!!!

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[msanthrope]

5. Is this the Onion? nt

[Blue-Jay]

6. How do you indicate "Look at that guy's balls" in sign language?

Do you just point at 'em? How about "Check out them big titties"?

[rug]

35. .

:freak:

[indurancevile]

7. surprised at posters who think it's funny that deaf people can't get services they're

legally entitled to that allow them the same choices hearing people have.

"I am fed up with being turned away every time I try to do something, by idiots who somehow feel the ADA does not apply to them,"

btw, nudists generally don't become nudists in order to see boobs. a lot of nudist boobs are in their 70s.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

8. Are private orginazations reqruied to provide interpreters as he is asking for?

Seriously, it was a non-government function and he was not precluded from bringing an interpreter. Does every event have to have interpreters available for any and all deaf people that might attend. Is that also required at an NFL game? What about a Little League game. How is this an ADA violation?

[Kennah]

9. Title III of ADA deals with public accomodations and commercial facilities

I presume this is the area of the law under which he is suing.

I am neither an expert on ADA nor an attorney, but I found this "ADA Title III Technical Assistance Manual"

http://www.ada.gov/taman3.html

Scroll down to and read "III-3.4300 Modifications in the regular program."

I'm inclined to say it adds credence to the claim that an interpreter should be available.

I have not been to a nudist festival, but I presume there are speakers talking about various aspects of nudism.

[indurancevile]

10. yes.

III-1.2000 Public accommodations. The broad range of title III obligations relating to "places of public accommodation" must be met by entities that the Department of Justice regulation labels as "public accommodations. " In order to be considered a public accommodation with title III obligations, an entity must be private and it must --

Own;

Lease;

Lease to; or

Operate

a place of public accommodation.

What is a place of public accommodation? A place of public accommodation is a facility whose operations --

Affect commerce; and

Fall within at least one of the following 12 categories:

1) Places of lodging (e.g. , inns, hotels, motels) (except for owner-occupied establishments renting fewer than six rooms);

2) Establishments serving food or drink (e.g. , restaurants and bars);

3) Places of exhibition or entertainment (e.g. , motion picture houses, theaters, concert halls, stadiums);

4) Places of public gathering (e.g. , auditoriums, convention centers, lecture halls);

5) Sales or rental establishments (e.g. , bakeries, grocery stores, hardware stores, shopping centers);

6) Service establishments (e.g. , laundromats, dry-cleaners, banks, barber shops, beauty shops, travel services, shoe repair services, funeral parlors, gas stations, offices of accountants or lawyers, pharmacies, insurance offices, professional offices of health care providers, hospitals);

7) Public transportation terminals, depots, or stations (not including facilities relating to air transportation);

8) Places of public display or collection (e.g. , museums, libraries, galleries);

9) Places of recreation (e.g. , parks, zoos, amusement parks);

10) Places of education (e.g. , nursery schools, elementary, secondary, undergraduate, or postgraduate private schools);

11) Social service center establishments (e.g. , day care centers, senior citizen centers, homeless shelters, food banks, adoption agencies); and

12) Places of exercise or recreation (e.g. , gymnasiums, health spas, bowling alleys, golf courses).

[ProgressiveProfessor]

16. Considering that I rarely if ever see an interpreter in most of those places aren't the other means

of accommodation (written material) considered adequate? How are ad hoc events handled?

[Lance_Boyle]

20. Does the naturist park 'affect commerce?'

What are they buying/selling? Is the festival buying/selling, or are individual attendees doing so? Not sure "public accommodation" applies here.

[Xithras]

11. No, interpreters are NOT required.

Certain parts of the ADA are a bit controversial. This is one of them.

The law merely requires that information made available to customers be in a format that disabled customers can access. For most businesses, that simply means having everything written down. When I used to give technical presentations to private businesses, I just kept a couple printed copies of the script handy. I was only once asked for it, and it fufilled my legal duty. In my classroom nowadays, I use the same technique when lecturing, augmented by a notepad (though my employer actually does provide interpreters to students, they aren't much help in a classroom filled with technobabble).

There are deaf people who maintain that interpeters are always required, but it's a matter of "interpretation". As long as you're providing them with the same info, you're legally fine. You don't need an interpreter, merely a translation they can understand.

[Lance_Boyle]

14. Correct - requiring the naturist place to hire an interpreter is *not* a reasonable accomodation

Requiring them to provide printed copies of any material presented (words spoken, not body parts exposed) would satisfy the ADA requirement here, if the court finds that there is one at all.

[indurancevile]

18. It's a *festival*. Not a "naturist place".

[Lance_Boyle]

19. It is a 'festival' held at a 'naturist place.'

The suit would require the place to hire an interpreter.

[indurancevile]

21. my point is that *festivals* as opposed to *naturist places* have events,

speeches, etc. that "handouts describing services offered" don't cover.

most festivals these days have sign interpreters.

[Lance_Boyle]

22. Never been to a festival with interpreters of any sort, unless they were

just audience members like me.

Handing out printed versions of any material presented orally still seems to me to fit the reasonable accommodation language of the ADA, if the event actually turns out to have to meet the ADA requirements (ie, if if is found to be a "public accomodation"). I never said that handing out descriptions of services would satisfy that requirement (again, if such a requirement is found by the courts to exist in this case).

[lapislzi]

24. At poetry festivals, they have a CC crawler by the stage

Requirement satisfied. Every spoken word is transcribed to the crawler.

[Lance_Boyle]

25. Makes sense.

I wonder about music festivals (which comprise most of my festival-going experience). Obviously interpreters would not work. Is there an ADA requirement that music festivals provide sheet music?

[lapislzi]

27. Begs the question, doesn't it?

I imagine you'll find about as many deaf people at music festivals as you will blind people in art galleries.

Some disabilities in some situations are very difficult to accommodate, if they can be accommodated at all.

I had a deaf boyfriend. He was deeply depressed about not being able to enjoy music, but little could be done about it, until he was able to obtain a cochlear implant.

[Xithras]

32. That's why the standard is "reasonable" accomodation.

"Reasonable" is in the eyes of the judge, but providing a sign interpreter at a music festival obviously wouldn't be reasonable. It's an audio event.

For other venues, "reasonable" can also be a factor of cost. A free outdoor event might not need one. Why not? Because it's FREE, which makes the imposition of a financial loss to hire an interpreter "unreasonable".

For most venues, it's simply common sense.

In the case of the OP, I think it would really depend on the type of event they were having. If he simply wanted an interpreter to walk around with him during the day, that's not a reasonable accomodation. If they were doing ad-lib stage presentations, having an interpreter available at the stage would be a reasonable accomodation. If they were doing scripted presentations, or were simply giving directions via loudspeaker, their duty is simply to provide him that information in a reasonable format, which might just be a printed script or directions.

[lapislzi]

33. Thanks for the clarification.

FWIW, Disney World is wonderful in its accommodation of the differently abled. My then-boyfriend was able to enjoy almost 100% of the activities, with the exception of musical entertainment.

[elleng]

30. FYI,

The ADA law requires businesses and nonprofit groups to provide auxiliary aids and services, including interpreters, at no additional cost to users. First-time violations can lead to fines of up to $55,000.

[Marrah_G]

12. How much does an interpreter get paid per day?

Would they need to be available 24/7?

Are there a lot of interpreters out there?

I'm sad to say that I never thought about this.

[kctim]

15. 70s?

Then they become nudists to see both, boobs and crotch, at the same time?

[pipi_k]

17. Well by the same token...

as someone with the disabilities of panic disorder, anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, etc., I should be entitled to have at my disposal a "safe room" where I can go to calm down and collect myself should I find my anxiety or panic too much to handle.

This room must be small, dimly lit, very quiet, equipped with a sound system and lots of meditation/relaxation resources.


Yeah. In my dreams.


I have to deal with my disability the best way I can, and I bring my own "supplies" with me because I don't expect others to provide them.

Deaf people can get most of their needs met in a public venue that is required to provide them.

I can't.

[ZombieHorde]

31. I agree with you completely.

The ADA is a good thing, and nudists aren't strippers.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

34. Honestly, the guy sounds like an asshole

Calling people "idiots" isn't really a good way to make your case.

[divvy]

23. Even I can finger-spell "stop staring at my ass"

In fact, I can abbreviate it with only one finger.

[kudzu22]

26. So how does a strip club accommodate a blind man?

Body casts?

[hedgehog]

28. My take is to suggest that the festival/naturist colony is operating

on a shoe string budget. "Reasonable accommodation" wouldn't require that the festival hire an interpreter if the cost would bankrupt them. It might suggest allowing the interpreter to attend for free.