TRENTON
– Attorney General Peter C. Harvey
and the Division on Civil Rights announced
today that the State has issued a Finding
of Probable Cause against an Essex County
auto supply firm for allegedly refusing
service to a deaf man who tried to contact
the business using a TTY or “telephone
typewriter,” and the services of
a New Jersey Relay operator.
Named as a Respondent in the Finding of
Probable Cause document is Herman’s
Auto Parts and Supplies of Livingston.
The deaf man, Hamphil Hudson, of Orange,
alleges in his complaint that Herman’s
refused to accept a call he made to them
using the TTY and the free services of
a New Jersey Relay operator.
A Finding of Probable Cause means the
State has finished its investigation,
and has determined there is sufficient
evidence to support a reasonable suspicion
that the actions of Herman’s Auto
Parts and Supplies violated the New
Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD).
“We
are long past the point where a business
can announce to a person, ‘We don’t
serve your kind.’ The Law Against
Discrimination requires that businesses
treat all customers equally, regardless
of their mode of communication,”
said Attorney General Harvey. “No
one can decide not to do business with
someone because he or she is deaf or hard
of hearing. “
New Jersey is home to an estimated 720,000
of the nation’s 28 million persons
who are deaf and hard of hearing. In 2004
alone, 950,000 relay operator calls were
made through the New Jersey Relay Service.
According to NECA, the National Exchange
Carrier Association, 19.2 million minutes
of phone time was used for relay service
nationwide between July 2004 and March
2005.
According to Harvey, persons who are deaf,
hard of hearing or speech-impaired are
able to converse by telephone using a
TTY, which allows them to communicate
by typing messages instead of talking
into the telephone receiver. During a
telephone conversation between a TTY user
and someone without a TTY, a relay operator
is used as an intermediary. The relay
operator reads aloud what has been typed
by the TTY user, and then types the spoken
response from the hearing person in return.
Harvey said the NJ Relay Service, accessible
in New Jersey by dialing 7-1-1, is a free
service.
”New Jersey is home to hundreds
of thousands of persons who are either
deaf or have some degree of hearing loss,”said
the Attorney General. “Combining
the use of a TTY and the services of a
relay operator is a valuable means of
communication for those individuals, as
well as persons who are speech-impaired.
Anyone who chooses to do so should be
able to access businesses and services
using this process.”
According to Division on Civil Rights
Director J. Frank Vespa-Papaleo, Hudson
alleges in his Complaint that he made
several calls to Herman’s, and when
they heard the call was being handled
by a relay operator, they responded “Oh,
no!” and hung up. Hudson further
alleges that, when the relay operator
immediately called back, a different person
answered the phone and said, “Herman’s
Auto Parts and Supplies doesn’t
deal with the hearing impaired.”
Vespa-Papaleo said the ownership of Herman’s
has told Division on Civil Rights investigators
that there are legitimate business reasons
for refusing relay calls. According to
Vespa-Papaleo, the owner explained that
the last time a relay call was accepted
at Herman’s, a large order totaling
$2,000 was placed using a fraudulent credit
card. Although the apparent fraud was
detected prior to the actual shipping
of any merchandise, the owner said she
decided not to accept any more relay calls,
the Director noted.
“It
is a shame that, just because of one unfortunate
experience, a business would treat everyone
who makes use of a vital communications
tool like the New Jersey Relay Service
as if they were going to commit fraud,"
said Vespa-Papaleo.
Brian C. Shomo, Director of the Division
of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing within
the New Jersey Department of Human Services,
applauded Attorney General Harvey and
the Division on Civil Rights for pursuing
this case.
“This
case is important in ensuring protection
for all those who rely on the relay services
to conduct our daily business,”
said Shomo. “This will educate others
about the importance of relay service
usage, too. All too often, an uninformed
recipient will hang up because a call
is from a deaf or hard of hearing person
using the relay services.”
Shomo added that anyone with a question
about services for the deaf and hard of
hearing, including relay services, interpreter
services and assistive listening devices,
can call the Division
of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
at 609-984-7281.
The Division on Civil Rights is responsible
for enforcement of the New Jersey Law
Against Discrimination and the Family
Leave Act. Specifically, the Division
investigates allegations of discrimination
in employment, housing, places of public
accommodation and credit.
Now that the Division has issued a Finding
of Probable Cause, the case will be referred
for Conciliation. If Conciliation is not
successful, the case will be sent to an
Administrative Law Judge for a non-jury
trial.
The Division on Civil Rights has six offices
located in Newark, Trenton, Atlantic City,
Camden, Jersey City and Paterson. The
Division recently established its first-ever
Disabilities and Public Accommodations
Unit, which conducted this investigation.
Further information about the Division
is available by visiting www.NJCivilRights.org
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