Sound case? Two residents are suing this Northern California retirement community under ADA
Sun City Lincoln Hills bills itself as an “active adult community” featuring two golf courses, a spa, 27 miles of walking trails, and concerts and shows that are “open to all.”
But the “open to all” part is up for debate.
A federal civil rights lawsuit filed by two residents of the 3,000-acre community about 30 miles northeast of Sacramento says the community association has discriminated against them by failing to provide devices and services at its board meetings, theater and elsewhere to help individuals with hearing loss.
Joanne Mitchell, a 78-year-old resident who began losing her hearing in her 30s, and Donna Szabados, a 73-year-old who began losing her hearing in her 40s, sued in U.S. District Court in Sacramento after more than a year of trying to get captioning or other assistance that would allow them to understand what is going on at board meetings or performances, their lawsuit says.
The closest they could come to a resolution of the dispute was a test last June after the association bought 10 iPads and asked the plaintiffs and other members of the Hearing-Impaired Support Group at Sun City to test an automated captioning system being tried out at a subcommittee meeting, the suit says.
“The test was an unmitigated disaster,” the lawsuit says. “The iPad would go into sleep mode every minute and had to be continually refreshed.
“Moreover, the automated captioning device grossly misinterpreted the speech to the point of being gibberish.”
Screenshots of the captions filed in court along with the lawsuit show nonsensical and sometimes profane interpretations of what was being said aloud.
“...your room champion 60 miles north of alter Rocky Mount Uniontown medicine and shabu shabu international movie ha ha Poopoo contacted American style in general directions to Mount Calvary Church Hannah where people are,” one passage read.
Two more tests “yielded similar unsatisfactory results,” the lawsuit says.
Chris O’Keefe, the association’s executive director, declined to comment Monday when reached by phone.
But the lawsuit says that because the women and others have not been provided accommodations for their hearing loss they cannot participate in board meetings where fees, rule and other items are discussed.
“Another individual with hearing disabilities who also attended the meeting where plaintiffs made their request recounted extensive difficulties over the past six years in getting effective communication accommodations so that she could understand the directions spoken during the fitness classes offered at the community’s fitness centers,” the suit says.
Last June, Szabados arrived early for a performance of “The Odd Couple” at the Sun City Kilaga Springs Lodge so she could ask for an iPad that she thought would provide closed captioning, but “the staff was confused and did not seem to know what she was talking about,” the suit says.
In November, after receiving a notice that attendees at performances can “now stream live audio and captioning straight to your WiFi enabled device,” she tried to attend a “Magic Moments” performance at the Orchard Ballroom, the suit says, adding that “nothing had changed, she was unable to stream captioning to her device and was again left to sit through a performance unable to understand the dialogue.”
The lawsuit cites violations of state and federal fair housing laws, as well as the landmark American with Disabilities Act, which has spawned countless thousands of lawsuits by individuals alleging they cannot enter businesses or public rest rooms because there are no accommodations for people with wheelchairs or limited mobility.
In Northern California alone, serial filers are common, with one, quadriplegic attorney Scott Norris Johnson, filing thousands of lawsuits alleging ADA violations. Last year, he was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he filed fraudulent tax returns on funds he received from the lawsuits.
But lawsuits by individuals with hearing loss issues also are part of the ADA litigation history.
In 2015, Harvard University was sued by the National Association of the Deaf and individual plaintiffs who alleged the school violated the ADA “by denying equal access to free online courses and lectures to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing,” according to the U.S. Justice Department.
The federal government has sued hospitals for failing to “provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services, including qualified sign language interpreters,” as well as hotels and a cruise line for similar allegations.
The Sun City lawsuit notes that there are 35 million people in the United States with hearing loss, and seeks punitive, actual and other damages as well as an injunction requiring the association to provide accommodations that will allow residents equal access.