Lawsuit: Deaf couple denied sign-language interpreter
A deaf Sleepy Hollow couple is suing the Westchester Medical Center, claiming they were denied a sign language interpreter when the husband was hospitalized after suffering a heart attack,
Alfred and Maritza Ortiz were discriminated against because of their disability, received substandard care and endured "humiliation, fear, anxiety and emotional distress," they say in papers filed July 13 in U.S. District Court in White Plains.
The federal lawsuit also names the Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown as a defendant, saying the couple's request for an interpreter was also denied there, in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act and state human rights law.
The Ortizes had no comment. Their lawyers, the Eisenberg and Baum Law Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, said in a statement that both hospitals failed to train their staffs or have appropriate accommodations in place for deaf patients.
"In doing so, they have failed our clients by not allowing them to meaningfully participate in their healthcare. (The hospitals) have not only violated our client's legal rights, but their basic rights as human beings," the statement says.
The center is a Manhattan-based firm specializing in cases involving the hearing impaired.
Orange Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Marcy Manheim said Thursday that the hospital was not aware of the litigation and had no comment; the Westchester Medical Center did not return calls.
The court papers say Alfred Ortiz, 70, was admitted to the Westchester Medical Center on Jan. 25 after suffering a heart attack and was accompanied by his 60-year-old wife. After being evaluated for several days, he underwent heart surgery and remained in the hospital until Feb. 15. He was admitted to the Orange Regional Medical Center, from March 8-12, for further treatment.
The suit notes that the Ortizes are both "profoundly deaf" and communicate primarily in American Sign Language. Although they asked for a sign-language interpreter several times at both hospitals, court papers say the two medical centers ignored their requests, forcing them to communicate through less effective lip reading or passing handwritten notes back and forth.
Because of less-than-adequate communication, "neither Alfred Ortiz nor Maritza Ortiz understood Alfred Ortiz' condition, the care he received or his discharge instructions," at either hospital, the suit says. As a result, it continues, they "received services that were objectively substandard and that were inferior to those provided to persons who are hearing..."
The lawsuit requests a jury trial and asks that both hospitals be ordered to implement policies to provide sign-language interpreters and take other measures to ensure that the hearing impaired are provided with effective communication. It also seeks unspecified compensatory damages and legal fees.