Majocha v. Turner

Majocha v. Turner,
No. Civ. A. 00-552 (W.D. Pa. Sept. 13, 2001)

Parents of a minor patient brought this claim against an ENT physician and
his partners, alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA")
and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The physician had offered to communicate
in writing with the patient’s father, who was deaf, but the parents insisted
on a sign language interpreter. The physician then sent the parents a letter
cancelling the child’s appointment.

The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania denied
the physician’s motion for summary judgment. The court held that the letter
alone was sufficient to allow the case to proceed to trial and that the letter
was "as close to a smoking gun as it gets in federal court."

The court also ruled that the mother, who was not hearing-impaired, had standing
under the provisions of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act that extend protection
to people who have a relationship with a disabled individual.

The court also rejected the physician’s argument that the parents lacked standing
to seek injunctive relief under the ADA, stating that "where a public accommodation
in the health care fields adheres to its policies of refusing to provide the
requested auxiliary aid or had denied treatment altogether to an individual
who seeks to receive treatment at the facility, injunctive relief may be available."

The court ruled that the parents may be entitled to punitive damages because
they offered sufficient evidence from which a jury might find that the physician
acted with reckless indifference to the parents’ rights under the Rehabilitation
Act.

Lastly, the court denied the physician’s partners’ motion for summary judgment
because Pennsylvania law holds partners equally liable for the conduct of other
partners.