The Department of Justice has settled with Falls Church, VA-based Inova Fairfax Hospital, in a case that turned on its failure to provide an interpreter for a hearing-impaired patient. The patient, who was pregnant, had been involved in an auto accident. The patient requested a sign-language interpreter for her mother, but didn't receive one for more than five hours, leaving the patient to act as interpreter for her mother. The patient then filed claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act. To settle the charges, Inova Fairfax agreed to pay the patient and her mother $55,000 in damages. The hospital also agreed to provide auxiliary aids for patients, family members and companions when needed, as well as assessing communications issues for people with speech and hearing impairments when they arrive at the facility.
To get more detail on the case:
- read this Washington Business Journal article