On August 24, 2006, a citizen of New Braunfels with complete bilateral hearing loss filed a lawsuit in the Western District of Texas under the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 against the City of New Braunfels. The plaintiff, represented by Advocacy, Inc., asked the court for declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and compensatory damages, claiming that no reasonable accommodations were made by emergency personnel, discriminatory practices by the city in their dealings with disabled persons.

Specifically, the plaintiff claimed that police and emergency responders willfully refrained from obtaining a qualified American Sign Language interpreter during a response and investigation of plaintiff's 911 call. According to the complaint, the plaintiff had returned home to find her boyfriend motionless on the couch and called 911. When police came to her home, they were completely unable to communicate to her what was happening, why they needed to search, what the process was, or to provide consent to the search.

From the time the complaint was filed through April 2, 2008, the parties engaged in discovery and interviews with various experts.

On May 9, 2008, the parties filed a joint motion to dismiss pursuant to an arbitration agreement. The plaintiff settled for $75,000 and a promise by the city to change its policies and enforce the changes with respect to accommodations for hearing impaired persons.

On May 14, 2008, Judge Xavier Rodriguez granted the joint motion to dismiss.

Andrew Steiger - 03/24/2014


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