Alvarez v. New York City Health & Hosps. Corp.,
No. 99 Civ. 3215 (RCC) (S.D.N.Y. July 17, 2002)

A hearing impaired patient, who regularly sought medical treatment at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, sued the hospital claiming a violation of his rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, when the hospital did not produce an interpreter to the patient's satisfaction. The patient did not like the idea that patients were responsible for asking for an interpreter, and thought interpreters should be provided without asking. The patient also rejected the interpreter that was provided for him because the interpreter was not certified, and assumed that the interpreter would not be helpful in the "emergency" situation in which the patient was faced (12 days in the hospital with the chicken pox). The court granted the hospital's motion to dismiss the lawsuit because the patient was unable to prove that the special services office intended to discriminate, and the hospital had a policy of providing interpreters at the request of hearing impaired patients, a policy of which the patient was familiar.