ACLU-DC Sues Local Housing Authority, City Over Disability Complaint
The American Civil Liberties Union of D.C. has filed a lawsuit against DC Housing Authority, the city itself, and building manager CIH Properties over allegations that employees of the authority violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, threatening the health and safety of an elderly, deaf tenant.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court on Aug. 30, alleges that a “profoundly deaf” tenant of Ward 2’s Claridge Towers was unable to access health services in a timely fashion after complaining to her son that she experienced problems breathing.
The tenant, 77-year-old Army veteran Evelyn Arthur, relies on a “video relay system” hooked up to a television in her bedroom to communicate with friends and family. (The system connects both Arthur and the hearing person to a trained sign-language interpreter, a service paid for by the Federal Communications Commission.)
Building manager CIH Properties had, for months, allowed Arthur’s son, Robert—her primary caretaker—to visit her without having the front desk call via the video system. But in January of 2017, CIH allegedly rescinded that accommodation. The suit alleges that Robert verbally complained to management about this change, since Evelyn can only see incoming calls when she is in her bedroom and looking directly at the television.
Read more: https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/housing-complex/article/21021492/acludc-sues-local-housing-authority