FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CR

TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 1998                                                                                                                              (202) 616-2777

                                                                                                                                                                                 TDD (202) 514-1888







WASHINGTON, D.C. AGREES TO SETTLE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUIT


ENSURING 9-1-1 SERVICES FOR PERSONS WHO ARE DEAF





	WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Two Washington, D.C. residents who are
deaf and could not get through to the city's 9-1-1 emergency
telephone service will receive $15,000 in damages under an
agreement reached today with the Justice Department and a private
civil rights group.

	In the settlement filed today in U.S. District Court in
D.C., the District, the Justice Department, and the Washington
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs agreed to
resolve a suit which the Justice Department joined in March 1997. 
The suit alleged that the District did not comply with the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because it failed to
provide adequate access to 9-1-1 services for people with
disabilities.  

	Today's agreement follows an earlier order by the District
Court ensuring that District residents who are deaf, hard of
hearing, or have other disabilities will be able to reach 9-1-1
when using telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDDs).

   	"When a 9-1-1 call goes unanswered, it can mean the
difference between life and death," said Acting Assistant
Attorney General for Civil Rights Bill Lann Lee.  

	A TDD is a device used in a similar manner as a telephone
except that it allows individuals to type their conversations
into a keyboard and read responses on a display.  Each letter is
transmitted by an electronic code over the telephone line.  Both
parties must have TDDs in order to communicate. 

	The Justice Department began looking into the District's   
9-1-1 services in 1995, but halted it's investigation when the
District agreed to correct problems in its system.  In 1996, when
the Justice Department received complaints from the two D.C.
residents alleging that they were unable to access 9-1-1, the
Justice Department reopened its investigation.  

	The investigation revealed that calls by Deborah Miller and
Sean Owens, who were using TDDs, were not answered when they
called 9-1-1 in June and August 1996 for police and emergency
services.  

	In June 1996, Miller attempted to use her TDD to report an
assault and robbery.  She made repeated TDD calls for 25 minutes
with no response, even though her TDD registered that the calls
had been received by the District.  

	In August 1996, Owens, who no longer lives in the District,
attempted to contact the 9-1-1 center to get emergency medical
services for another deaf person who was unconscious.  But he
failed to get a reply.

	Justice Department testing confirmed that the District was
unable to answer TDD calls for many months because of equipment
problems.

	In December 1996, the Washington Lawyers' Committee for
Civil Rights and Urban Affairs sued the District on behalf of the
two complainants.  The Justice Department formally joined the
suit in March 1997.  

	Under the agreement signed today, the District agreed to pay
Miller and Owens each $15,000 in compensatory damages, as well as
to pay their attorney's fees.  Today's agreement does not modify
an earlier court order, issued November 5, 1997, which addressed
the merits of this suit.  That order held that the District
violated the ADA and ordered the District to provide proper
access to its 9-1-1 services for persons with disabilities.  

	Under the 1997 court order, the District is required to:

 	ensure that all equipment is fully functioning so that each
call-taking position has TDD capability;




 	establish procedures for effective processing of TDD calls 
and provide training for emergency call takers to handle TDD
calls, including considering "silent" calls as possible
calls from TDD users and sending out a TDD response;




 	monitor the performance of its 9-1-1 system and report the
testing results to the Justice Department and the court;




 	procure services from an independent contractor to place
supplemental test calls to the District's 9-1-1 system; and,




 	develop and implement a public education program to promote
the use of 9-1-1 by individuals who use TDDs.




	

	The ADA prohibits discrimination against persons with
disabilities and requires local governments to ensure that their
telephone emergency services, including 9-1-1 services, provide
direct access to individuals who use TDDs.  "These agreements
will ensure that calls to 9-1-1 from people who are deaf, hard of
hearing, or who have speech impairments will not go unanswered,"
added Mr. Lee.  	

	  The agreement will not be final until it is approved by
U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Sporkin.

	The Department's 9-1-1 enforcement efforts have led to a
variety of similar settlements in cities across the country,
including, Pittsburgh; Indianapolis; Cleveland; Buffalo, New
York; Charleston, South Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Ft. Wayne,
Indiana; Bartlesville, Oklahoma; Arlington Heights, Illinois;
and, the State of California.  

	The Department has established an ADA Home Page and hotline
that provide information about the ADA and the Department's ADA
responsibilities.  The Home Page is located on the World Wide Web
at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm and the hotline can
be accessed by calling (800) 514-0301 (voice) and (800) 514-0383
(TDD). 

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