NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo sued for not providing live sign language translator during televised COVID-19 briefings
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has been hailed as a hero in fighting the coronavirus outbreak in his state, is reportedly being sued for not catering to deaf viewers at his daily briefings.
Cuomo is now being sued by a group of deaf New York residents, who have joined hands with the Disability Rights New York (DRNY) group to complain that New York is the only state to not have provided televised in-frame ASL interpretation during COVID-19 briefings.
According to TMZ, the DRNY has received a barrage of complaints about the issue.
According to the disability rights organization, they reached out to the governor's office on March 27 and requested a live sign language interpreter. However, Cuomo's representatives said they had the provision only through an online broadcast on the governor's website. Cuomo's office also told the group that it provides closed captioning for televised broadcasts, the lawsuit claims.
But closed captioning is not provided on all TV channels broadcasting the coronavirus briefings, the suit claims, adding that closed captioning often contains errors and omissions as compared to ASL interpretations.
Nonetheless, Gov. Cuomo's office directed the group to the said website. However, the lawsuit argues that not all deaf residents have internet access. According to the DRNY, they have made no progress with the governor thus far, and have proceeded to file a complaint with the Justice Department.
According to the report, the group of deaf residents and DRNY are suing for an order that would force Cuomo to provide a live sign language translator on his daily televised briefings. This comes just days after Governor Cuomo signed an executive order to issue licenses to allow New Yorkers to get married over video chatting platforms like Zoom.
"NEW: I am issuing an Executive Order allowing New Yorkers to obtain a marriage license remotely and allowing clerks to perform ceremonies via video conference," the governor tweeted on April 18.
The governor's secretary, Melissa DeRosa, made the official announcement at a press conference and said that clerks will be able to perform ceremonies remotely as well.
Meanwhile, Cuomo lightly joked about the increase in divorce rates due to the stay-at-home orders amid the pandemic.
"So that's an avenue people want to go down, it will be available to them," DeRosa said to the reporters at the conference.
"I think the divorce rate is going up. Marriage rate is going down, divorce rate is going up. What are we doing about marriage bureaus? Why didn't someone think about that?", Cuomo quipped.
"We actually have thought about it," DeRosa quickly followed Cuomo's comment. "We are today signing an executive order allowing people to get their marriage licenses remotely and also allowing clerks to perform ceremonies over video. So if that's an avenue people want to go down, it will be available to them."
The pandemic continues to wreak havoc in the US, with New York being the epicenter of the outbreak and worst hit among all states. New York has recorded more than 300,000 confirmed cases and over 23,000 fatalities as of Wednesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University.