This press release came out just earlier today.
NAD Files Complaint against Washington Redskins and FedEx Field
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and Joseph B. Espo, an attorney with Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP in Baltimore, Maryland, filed a class action lawsuit against the Washington Redskins and FedEx Field football stadium. The complaint, filed with the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, claims that the Washington Redskins and FedEx Field failed to provide captioning for announcements made over the public address system before, during, and after Washington Redskins home games, as required under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The class action lawsuit was brought on behalf of all individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, who attend or in the future will attend Washington Redskins home games at FedEx Field. Representing the class are Shane Feldman, Brian Kelly, and Paul Singleton, who are deaf or hard of hearing and who regularly attend Washington Redskins home games at FedEx Field. Feldman says, “I am a life-long, die-hard Redskins fan and I love watching the Washington Redskins play at FedEx Field, but I miss out on the total game experience because I cannot hear the information announced over the public address system. Providing captioning is not rocket science; it is simple, and it is the right thing to do.”
Marc Charmatz, Senior Attorney with the NAD Law and Advocacy Center said, “People who are deaf or hard of hearing have been excluded from large public events for decades. Providing captioning in stadiums will ensure effective communication, equal access, and an equal opportunity for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.”
The complaint asks the court to order the Washington Redskins and FedEx Field to provide and display captioning on the scoreboards and video monitors for all announcements made over the public address system, including plays and penalties called, safety and emergency information, and any other announcements.
According to Espo, “The failure to provide and display captioning for the announcements made over the public address system discriminates against deaf and hard of hearing Washington Redskins fans.The Washington Redskins have known about this for years and did nothing. Deaf and hard of hearing fans are tired of being left out of the game.”
© Copyrighted material. This article cannot be copied, reproduced or redistributed without the express written consent of the author. As with every blog on this website, this blog does not reflect the opinion of DeafDC.com.
16 Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Way to go!
I’d be curious to know what the technical solution to this issue would be. Would it be a moving display? A new scoreboard? A retrofit of existing scoreboards? Or god forbid, rear window captioning?
I would really hate to be forced to sit in designated areas and be forever fidgeting with my swingamacalit while everyone’s cheering or booing.
Bravo! (Although you do have to concede that they DO sorta caption “Hail to the Redskins.”)
I only wish I could ask deaf Redskins cheerleader Jessica B. for her perspective on this suit.
I can’t find any reference to a deaf Redskins cheerleader on the web…do you have any more information?
Her name is Jessica, and you can view her Redskins profile here: http://www.redskins.com/cheerl.....jsp?id=779
She was also interviewed for a blurb in the Washington Post Magazine earlier this spring or summer, and I personally interviewed her several years ago when she was a Wizards dancer.
Well, a temporary solution can be had when many deaf and hard of hearing carry cell phones with texting capabilities. The owners of the stadium could provide you a phone number to sign up where you can get your announcement via your cell phones. There will be times when you won’t be in your seats in full view of the scoreboard, or anywhere else like, oh say, in the bathrooms. After signing up you could dial in a special number (available for one day to prevent abuses) and submit your own ID # that will automate any messages of the sound system into text delivered to your cell phone. This can be done until they can figure out how to keep everybody informed at the same time.
Eh?
I believe that’s been tried - but there’s always a delay, not exactly what you want while watching a game.
NADMag, a couple of years ago, published a well-researched article on this exact same issue. Does anybody remember which issue it was?
Ooooh! I can see this happening! Tom Cruise does the public announcement in Sign Language on the jumbo television. Daniel Synder is a genius.
Alongside Brooke Shields?
*giggles* But who would the sign master be?
It is about time for the Redskins and the “Baby-Cooing” Daniel Synder to wake up for what is more important for them to have Deaf and Hard of Hearing people come to root for them in games. I have respected the Redskins and wish Cooke would stay alive to provide us with what we have wanted perfectly. Good Luck to Redskins for this season. Watch out for Saints, Panthers, and Vikings!!
Cool - I think this may be a strong case.
Under the ADA, public accommodations are required to provide auxiliary aids and services - including open & closed capitioning. With the annual revenues that Synder earn, they probably can’t use the undue financial burden defense for this one. Good luck, y’all.
see http://www.captions.org and click on legal
Cheers to the class action!! It is imperative to have communication access for deaf and hard of hearing patrons to watch live sports games at any stadium. For example, PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA are very suitable for deaf, hard of hearing, and disablity patrons to access sufficently to satisfy with closed-caption, wheelchair, etc. Fortunately, the stadium received ADA award. I pray that the Nationals stadium will do the same thing for us. Perhaps, we could become vendors to sell hot dogs, ice-cream, etc for fundraising event and the same time, we use mode of communications each other especially hearing people to aware of their recognation in ourselves. How’s that?
And while you’re at it, can you get them to provide free or cheap water bottles during hot weather?
Hail to the Skins
We should be also allowed to sit in the handicapped area!!!