Law Student Using American Sign Language Wins 4th Circuit Appeal
Jehanne McCullough, a University of Virginia School of Law student who is deaf, recently argued a federal excessive force appeal through the school’s appellate clinic, and three American Sign Language interpreters were also involved in the process.
McCullough, a 3L, signed oral arguments, which one interpreter, Kate O’Regan, spoke to the court. Another interpreter, Rene DeVito, signed what was said by the court, opposing counsel and McCullough’s co-counsel Nina Oat, another 3L at the law school who handled the rebuttal. A third interpreter, Jen Diggans, interpreted during case preparation.
Danbury Hospital Settles Disability Compliance Complaint
DANBURY, CT - The Morganti Wound Care Center, operated by Danbury Hospital, has reached a settlement with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Connecticut, resolving a complaint the facility was not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
A wheelchair-bound patient alleged he was denied access to the services provided by MWCC when the workers there turned him away because they did not have the equipment or training necessary to transfer him from his chair to the examination table.
ADA Did Not Protect Anemic Worker, 11th Cir. Rules
An employee with anemia failed to show that she had a disability protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled (Martin v. Teleperformance Inc., No. 18-cv-62488 (11th Cir., Feb. 23, 2021)).
The plaintiff, a call center customer service rep, was fired after four months. She sued, claiming that the company unlawfully discriminated against her because of the disability. The district court granted summary judgment to her employer. The 11th Circuit affirmed the decision, finding that the plaintiff had not shown that she qualified as an individual with a disability under the ADA.
Push is On for States to Ban Organ Transplant Discrimination
On Feb. 8, a bill nicknamed “Griffin’s Law” passed the Montana Senate 49-0. The bill is named for Griffin Dalrymple, whose mom, Jayci, campaigned for legislation that would ban physicians from denying an organ transplant based solely on a patient’s disability.
Griffin Dalrymple is an energetic 7-year-old who loves going to school in Eureka, Montana. But two years ago, the boy described by his mother, Jayci, as a “ball of fire” was suddenly knocked back by severe bacterial pneumonia that hospitalized him for two weeks.
As her son lay in the intensive care unit with a tube in his tiny lungs, Jayci began imagining worst-case scenarios. She worried that if Griffin ended up needing a lung transplant, he might be refused because he has Down syndrome.