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NAD Makes a Touchdown – Victory in Redskins Case
By advocacy | October 2, 2008
On September 30, 2008, a federal judge in Maryland ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires the Washington Redskins to provide fans who are deaf or hard of hearing with equal access to the auditory information broadcast over the stadium public address system at FedExField where the Redskins play. This auditory information includes play-by-play announcements, referee calls, music with lyrics, advertisements, safety/emergency information, and other announcements. This victory comes two years after the NAD and Joe Espo, a lawyer with Brown, Gold & Levy, LLP, filed a lawsuit on behalf of three deaf Redskins fans: Shane Feldman, Paul Singleton, and Brian Kelly.
After the lawsuit was filed, the Redskins began captioning some, but not all, of the information broadcast over the stadium public address system. The Redskins asked the court to dismiss the case. The court noted that the Redskins did not begin providing captioning until after the lawsuit. The judge also noted that, without a court ruling, the Redskins could turn off the captioning at any time. Finally, the court ruled that it could not dismiss the case because the Redskins do not caption everything that is broadcast over the public address system.
- The court also analyzed the ADA’s requirements.
The court rejected the Redskins’ argument that they were not required to do anything more than provide assistive listening systems. The judge stated that it was undisputed that assistive listening systems did not help the plaintiffs understand the broadcasts over the public address system. The court ruled that the ADA requires the Redskins to provide accommodations to ensure effective communication.
The court did not have enough information to determine whether captioning must be placed in the same line of sight as the JumboTrons for the captioning to be effective. Today, captions are displayed at the 50-yard line. The JumboTrons are in the end zones. Sometimes the JumboTrons display video along with the audio broadcast over the public address system. The plaintiffs allege that the captions are not effective because they cannot watch the video on the JumboTrons in the end zones and read the captions at the 50-yard line at the same time. The court plans to hold a trial on this issue.
The court’s ruling that stadiums must ensure effective communication with fans who are deaf or hard of hearing is the first of its kind in the country. The NAD expects that the decision will provide guidance to stadiums around the country that seek to comply with their obligations under the ADA.
Read the court’s Opinion and Order at
http://www.mdd.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Opinions/feldman093008.pdf.
Topics: General |
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:08 pm
This is great news! I commend the plaintiffs for sticking this through, and thanks to NAD for assisting on this case. You guys have made things more accessible for us.
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Congrats for sticking to your guns, Shane, Paul, and Brian! Thanks, NAD for doing a superb job with this landmark case!
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Yeaaah!
Besides, even us hearing people can’t understand a word those announcers say!
October 9th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
That is good to know, BUT…don’t you think your time should be well placed for these in need by the majority than selected well-heeled few?
I feel NAD law center need to focus priority that have the major impact to deaf community who cannot afford expensive ligiation?
I am somewhat disappointed because these plainiffs can do it with their own attorney and NAD can provide information to support their case due to severe shortage of attorneys and depentant on volunteer legal assistant.
Why can’t Law Center begin charge normal attorney’s fees and collect 1/3 in settlement amounts, this will guaranteed major growth with more attorneys and paid legal assistant to provide the majority needs throughout USA?
Think about it and contact me to talk about it. ok?
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Delegates representing state associations and other affiliate organizations, as well as individual members from across the nation, voted for captioning access in stadiums, arenas, and related venues as one of the top priorities at the 2000 NAD Conference in Norfolk, VA. Delegates again stressed this as one of the top priorities at the 2002 NAD Conference in Washington, DC.
The NAD Law and Advocacy Center carefully selected a complaint with the best mixture of legal and factual issues to be successful, and took action against the Washington Redskins and FedExField. As a result of the court’s decision, we expect there will be greater access for deaf and hard of hearing Americans in stadiums, arenas, and related venues nationwide.
Please review current priorities at http://www.nad.org/2008confpriorities. There you will see the top issues for 2008-2010.
The NAD Law and Advocacy Center advocates in many ways, including litigation, for discrimination-based policy change on behalf of deaf and hard of hearing Americans. Because the focus is on policy change, the NAD Law and Advocacy Center represents clients regardless of income or NAD membership status. Attorney fees alone, when awarded by a court or included as part of a settlement agreement, do not provide a predictable stream of income to sustain staffing levels and provide for growth. This is why the support of members and donors is greatly needed.