Southeast ADA Center
2012
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Plaintiffs are two individuals who are deaf and a non-profit advocacy organization that represents people who are deaf in Florida. The individual plaintiffs were customers of Humana through Medicare and sought medical care from medical providers in the Humana network. Plaintiffs alleged that the Defendants—Florida Department of Financial Services (DFS), Commissioner of Insurance for the Office of Insurance Regulations (OIR), and Humana—violated Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (“Section 504”) by failing to provide qualified American Sign Language (“ASL”) interpreters and by failing to establish ADA and Section 504 grievance procedures.
When one of the plaintiffs made an appointment with a doctor in the Humana network, the doctor’s office said that it did not provide qualified ASL interpreters. The other plaintiff’s doctor in the network used unqualified ASL interpreters on five separate occasions. That plaintiff made an appointment with another doctor in the network. This doctor also did not provide qualified ASL interpreters.
Plaintiffs also had difficulties filing grievances with Humana, DFS, and OIR. One plaintiff filed a written complaint with Humana. Humana responded slowly and refused to disclose the results of its investigation. The other plaintiff tried to file a complaint with Humana through Video Relay Service (VRS), but Humana refused to accept the complaint by VRS, even though it accepted complaints by phone. One plaintiff complained by letter to OIR, the government office that licenses Humana. OIR responded to the complaint and recommended that Plaintiff contact the Department of Justice (DOJ). Both Plaintiffs complained by letter to DFS, the government department that supervises OIR. DFS responded to one complaint and recommended that the plaintiff contact the DOJ. DFS did not respond to the other complaint.
https://adasoutheast.org/court-decisions/giustiniani-v-florida-dept-of-financial-services
Keywords: Americans with Disabilities Act, effective communication, enforcement, grievance procedure, legal concepts, medical and health care, program access, public accommodations, state & local government