Miss-Delectable
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The Herald-Zeitung
A new policy to assist the deaf during emergency situations is in the works by the City of New Braunfels because of a lawsuit settlement Tuesday.
Maria Salinas, a deaf woman who uses American Sign Language to communicate and isn’t fluent in written or spoken English, was awarded $75,000 in damages after she sued the city for allegedly not providing an interpreter in a timely manner during a 911 emergency.
The 911 call was made Sept. 23, 2004, after Salinas came home from work and found her fiancé, Ed Spencer, lying motionless on her couch and wasn’t able to wake him. Salinas had a neighbor call 911 to request assistance and ask police for the services of a qualified ASL interpreter.
According to Salinas, the police knew from the 911 call that she was deaf and needed interpreter services, but they didn’t attempt to locate an interpreter and failed to assign this task to another city employee.
Lucy Wood, Salinas’ attorney, said the woman suffered emotional distress because she didn’t know what functions the police were performing and remained unsure about her fiancé’s prognosis because of the language barrier.
“We’re just really grateful to set up a new policy that will govern how police interact with the deaf and hope it will serve as a boilerplate for other communities,” said Wood, who works for Advocacy Incorporated, a nonprofit organization that assists individuals with disabilities in civil lawsuits.
Motions made by the city to dismiss the case were denied in February 2006 by the federal court in San Antonio handling the case.
According to Charles Frigerio, the attorney representing the city, the New Braunfels Police Department’s list of interpreters will be updated, which he said was the problem in this case.
Frigerio said Wednesday that settling before trial means the city avoids having to pay for claims and legal fees, which could have amounted to $300,000.
The money for the settlement comes out of the Texas Municipal League, which acts as a sort of insurance company for various cities in the state, he said.
“Overall, the city is happy that this case is finally been decided and new regulations will be in place,” Frigerio said.
A new policy to assist the deaf during emergency situations is in the works by the City of New Braunfels because of a lawsuit settlement Tuesday.
Maria Salinas, a deaf woman who uses American Sign Language to communicate and isn’t fluent in written or spoken English, was awarded $75,000 in damages after she sued the city for allegedly not providing an interpreter in a timely manner during a 911 emergency.
The 911 call was made Sept. 23, 2004, after Salinas came home from work and found her fiancé, Ed Spencer, lying motionless on her couch and wasn’t able to wake him. Salinas had a neighbor call 911 to request assistance and ask police for the services of a qualified ASL interpreter.
According to Salinas, the police knew from the 911 call that she was deaf and needed interpreter services, but they didn’t attempt to locate an interpreter and failed to assign this task to another city employee.
Lucy Wood, Salinas’ attorney, said the woman suffered emotional distress because she didn’t know what functions the police were performing and remained unsure about her fiancé’s prognosis because of the language barrier.
“We’re just really grateful to set up a new policy that will govern how police interact with the deaf and hope it will serve as a boilerplate for other communities,” said Wood, who works for Advocacy Incorporated, a nonprofit organization that assists individuals with disabilities in civil lawsuits.
Motions made by the city to dismiss the case were denied in February 2006 by the federal court in San Antonio handling the case.
According to Charles Frigerio, the attorney representing the city, the New Braunfels Police Department’s list of interpreters will be updated, which he said was the problem in this case.
Frigerio said Wednesday that settling before trial means the city avoids having to pay for claims and legal fees, which could have amounted to $300,000.
The money for the settlement comes out of the Texas Municipal League, which acts as a sort of insurance company for various cities in the state, he said.
“Overall, the city is happy that this case is finally been decided and new regulations will be in place,” Frigerio said.