I-TEAM: A closer look into deaf woman’s lawsuit against Aiken police
AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Our I-TEAM is taking a closure look at an Aiken lawsuit after a deaf woman alleges officials violated her rights when she was denied a sign-language interpreter during an incident that led to her arrest.
In the lawsuit, Jodi Bennett claims she could not hear the beep to know her items had been successfully scanned at a Walmart self-checkout lane in June 2022.
“It’s an illustration of everything that can go wrong when an interpreter is not available,” said Randall Dong with Disability Rights South Carolina.
She missed four or five items, according to her lawsuit.
Bennett claims she paid $170 for the items that did scan and was walking out the door when she was stopped by an employee.
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The lawsuit claims Bennett offered to pay for the unscanned items but the employee still called police.
Andrew Rozynski, Bennett’s attorney, said: “She had no intention to steal. They called the cops, the cops came and she couldn’t properly communicate. They arrested her and brought her to the detention center.”
Bennett claims she asked for an interpreter, but the officers did not follow through – and proceeded to handcuff her from the back and arrest her.
“Not getting the communication access that she deserves was horrifying,” said Rozynski.
An Aiken city judge arraigned Bennett that afternoon, with her sister interpreting for her.
The judge then read the charges and released Bennett on her own recognizance.
According to Dong and Rozynski, this is happening more than you’d think.
“I would say a majority of government entities are not in compliance and have these things set up so they can be prepared when they encounter someone who is deaf,” said Rozynski.
The lawsuit claims she was denied an interpreter even though interpreters are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, through videoconferencing.
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Dong said: “There’s really never an excuse to not have some kind of interpretation. Live interpreters are best, but there has to be some kind of interpretation service.”
Further, the lawsuit claims, federal regulations state that a public entity cannot force a deaf person’s family member — without consent or an emergency — to provide interpretation services.
The lawsuit alleges the city violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act and seeks the development of programs, policies and procedures to avoid this in the future.
The lawsuit also seeks nominal and compensatory damages, attorney fees and other relief the court finds appropriate.
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