A Virginia skilled nursing facility has agreed to pay compensatory damages and a civil penalty, in addition to enacting remedial actions for residents with disabilities, to settle allegations that it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The settlement agreement resolves allegations that the SNF denied admission to an individual who is deaf because she would need sign language interpreting services.
To resolve the complaint between the Virginia SNF and the United States Attorney’s Office, the Virginia SNF agreed to adopt the following:
- New ADA policies that will make their services accessible to individuals with communication disabilities, including those who require the services of a sign language interpreter
- Designate an ADA Administrator, who will be responsible for compliance with the ADA
- Enter into agreements with sign language interpreting service providers to provide services to individuals who require these services
- Provide training for its personnel on the ADA’s effective communication requirements.
The agreement covers a total of eight nursing facilities located in Virginia, Maryland, Michigan, and New Jersey which the management company also services. In addition to making changes to the policies and procedures at the nursing facilities, the operators also agreed to pay $40,000 to the resident to whom it denied admission and a $50,000 civil penalty.
For more information on the ADA and to access helpful compliance-related publications, visit ADA.gov or call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TTY). ADA complaints may be filed online here.
Compliance Perspective
Issue
It is imperative that all staff that screen for admissions to nursing facilities are aware of Title III of the ADA. Refusing an individual admission to a facility based solely on the fact that they require sign language interpreter services could be seen as a violation of Title III of the ADA. Discrimination on the basis of disability is prohibited. F552 Right to Be Informed in the State Operations Manual, Appendix PP, provides the following guidance to facilities caring for hearing impaired residents: Health information and services must be provided in ways that are easy for the resident and/or the resident’s representative to understand. This includes, but is not limited to, communicating in plain language, explaining technical and medical terminology in a way that makes sense to the resident, offering language assistance services to residents who have limited English proficiency, and providing qualified sign language interpreters or auxiliary aids if hearing is impaired.
Discussion Points
- Review the facility’s policies and procedures on discrimination and admission screening. Ensure that these policies include prohibiting discrimination on the basis of any disability.
- Educate appropriate staff on Title III of the ADA and how denying admission to the facility based upon requiring sign language interpreter services could be seen as discrimination. Document that the trainings occurred and file the signed training document in each employee’s education file.
- Periodically audit the list of individuals who were denied admission to the facility to ensure that their denial was not in violation of Title III of the ADA.
