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A deaf couple in Brighton claims police met their calls for help with “deliberate indifference” — offering rote responses that no interpreters were available as they struggled to communicate in a mental health crisis.
In another case, a deaf Uber driver and former Rochester Institute of Technology student claims he experienced similar disregard when he was stopped for speeding, arrested and jailed.
Now the town is facing federal lawsuits alleging discrimination and violations of state and federal law.
Such claims are not uncommon nationally. Rochester, though, is home to one of — if not the — largest deaf populations per capita in the world.
The decades-old Americans with Disabilities Act dictates that interpretive services should be provided — if requested, and at an agency’s expense — so long as it does not cause an undue burden.
“It's as if my hands were tied,” Mary Karol Matchett said, speaking through an interpreter as she recounted trying to get police to help her son, who had autism spectrum disorder, depression and anxiety.
“I couldn't ask questions. I couldn't have a conversation with anyone. It was just a one-way street, and the conversation ... was coming at me.”
The lawsuits seek damages, but also demand policy changes and additional resources.
In a statement, Brighton town attorney John Mancuso said officials would respond to the allegations in court but are “not in a position to comment further at this time.”
Monroe County, named in one of the lawsuits as it operates the 911 center, also declined comment, citing pending litigation.
‘A total breakdown’
“When Scott was growing up, we knew he had some challenges,” Doug Matchett, speaking through an interpreter, said of his son.
“So I became his buddy. He became my buddy. I shared my world of water with him: Swimming, kayaking, scuba diving, skiing ... he was always with me.”
They have lived in Brighton for 35 years and raised two children, Scott and his younger sister, Kara, both deaf.
Water became a place that Scott felt safe. He was 5-foot-9 and, underwater, his mom said, “he was a torpedo.” He was a member of the U.S. Deaf Swimming National Team, the Fairport Area Swim Team, Brighton High School Swim Team and RIT Swim Team.
He graduated from Brighton High School and Rochester School for the Deaf and attended the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at RIT.
“Scott did have a really good life,” Mary Karol Matchett said. "But there were a lot of barriers that he had to face.”
Scott was 29 when he began to spiral. Some family and friends had moved away. He quit his job. His routine and structure unraveled. He smashed a TV. The Matchetts called police for help.
That was Feb. 24, 2021.
“I asked for an interpreter. And I said, ‘need an interpreter,’” she said, emphasizing the word. “They acted like it was inconsequential. And that was when they said, ‘Scott does not qualify for help.’”
The help the Matchetts wanted was Scott’s involuntary admission to psychiatric care.
It’s not clear if there was any attempt to secure an interpreter. The Matchetts said they haven’t experienced problems before, notably, with any other town department, with the schools, nothing.
Police instead used the family iPad, asking Scott about suicidal thoughts. Scott was good at “masking,” his parents said, and hiding his true self.
His answers to police were short, saying he was angry or responding irrelevantly about being forced to take medicine, "with no follow-up questions asked,” the lawsuit states.
“Scott's written responses, less proficient than his ASL (American Sign Language) communication, were often illogical and did not address the questions, highlighting the inefficiency of the written method,” the lawsuit states. “The Matchetts tried to convey critical information about Scott, including his expressed death wish and discontinuation of essential psychiatric medication.”
Officers left after about an hour, the lawsuit states, “advising Scott via iPad note to calm down and not break things.”
"And then in April, it was horrid,” Mary Karol Matchett said of the next time police were called to their home, this time by Scott. “It was a total breakdown in everything. And again, without an interpreter. I did not realize the damage was so bad — to everyone.”
'Did not violate policy'
The Matchetts are not alone.
In the second lawsuit, David Blevins recounted how Brighton police stopped him for speeding. This was 12 days before the Matchetts first called 911. The officer began speaking, but Blevins — who graduated from RIT this past May — couldn’t keep pace lip reading.
Estimates are that, at best, lip readers can capture a third of what is being said.
He gestured for a pen and paper, the lawsuit reads. No luck. But when he then gestured that he had a gun in the glove compartment, the officer allegedly started yelling at him. As he was being ordered out of the car, he said he requested an interpreter but instead was handcuffed and jailed.
In New York state, police recruits must complete a basic training course that consists of more than 700 hours of training. Six of those hours are devoted to interacting with people with disabilities; 20 hours deal with responding to mental health crisis. There also is additional in-service training available.
Topics related to hearing disabilities include recognizing and identifying the disability, communicating and interacting (including signing, lip-reading, writing, and using assistive technology), proper etiquette, safety considerations, and “an awareness of legal requirements for obtaining an interpreter,” according to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.
“There were no law enforcement (American Sign Language) interpreters on duty at the time of the incident,” Brighton police Capt. Jose Caraballo later wrote to Blevins, in response to a complaint Blevins filed. “While I understand this made communication difficult, and increased your level of frustration during the incident, it did not violate any Brighton Police Department policies or procedures.”
WXXI News has asked Brighton police for its relevant policies, as well as details on training and use of interpreter services. The town responded with the statement but none of the information requested.
“The Town is aware of the two recent lawsuits involving allegations under federal statutes against certain officers within the Brighton Police Department. The Brighton Police Department takes great pride in providing the highest level of police service to the community at all levels. The Town plans to try these cases in a court of law and not in the court of public opinion, and fully intends on addressing the specific allegations in its submissions to the Court. Otherwise, the Town is not in a position to comment further at this time.”
Scott calls for help
Shattered cups, plates and other items littered the inside of the house when Doug and Mary Karol Matchett arrived to find Scott in the throes of a mental health crisis.
That was April 7, 2021.
Scott had called police, who met the Matchetts outside.
“And that police officer actually knew a little bit of sign language — very basic,” Doug Matchett said. “And the police officer said, ‘Make sure that you have shoes on because it's pretty bad in the house.’”
Inside, there was glass everywhere.
On the kitchen counter were Post-it notes and the iPad: “You are happy police are here? OHH YEAH,” one note read. On others were apparent requests for deaf interpreters.
“Then I saw in the iPad, the response — several responses — of, ‘Interpreters aren't available,’” Doug Matchett said.
He and his wife would get the same response: “And it wasn't just one police officer, but it was several — several police officers have said the same thing: ‘Interpreters are unavailable,’” he said.
This time, police determined Scott did quality for assistance.
“So they took him to the hospital,” said Mary Karol Matchett. And that was just six weeks too late.”
The Matchetts followed up with police, in a meeting and emails, asking that interpreters be provided in the future, sharing background on Scott, suggesting and seeking changes.
For model practices and policies, experts point to police departments in San Francisco or Washington, D.C. Mary Karol points to RIT public safety. And she should know.
Mary Karol Matchett is the assistant vice president for student and academic services at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at RIT. In that role, she works with campus safety, social workers, Strong Memorial Hospital, “to make sure that our students are personally getting all they need.”
“But my own son,” she said. “I couldn’t get the access to an interpreter. I could not make that happen.”
Law and reality
The Americans with Disabilities Act "requires that the expressed choice of the individual with the disability ... should be given primary consideration in determining which communication aid to provide,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to the DOJ, the department should honor an individual’s choice unless it can demonstrate that another effective method of communication exists.
“Oftentimes the argument is, it’s just not possible or not reasonable to provide interpreter services,” said Andrew Rozynski, a New York City lawyer who is representing the Matchetts and Blevins.
But Rozynski added: “It's not a matter of is it possible, but it's a matter of is there a willingness to do so?"
Some police departments have officers trained in American Sign Language. There also are video remote interpreter services available 24-7. New York state provides local governments access to language access tools and services.
“As times have changed, and technology has changed over those years, the ability to access these services has become easier and easier,” Rozynski said, “especially with video remote interpreting being developed.
"And with cellphone technology, allowing for high-speed connections ... there really isn't a good excuse to not at least have those services available to police.”
But when police resort to passing a notepad back and forth, or — as with the Matchetts — an iPad, officials said, that can be problematic. Particularly when trying to relay the detail and nuance of legal and mental health issues.
“English is, for a lot of deaf people, a language that they are much weaker in communicating than American Sign Language,” Rozynski said. “And so that ... provides a whole host of issues.”
Howard Rosenblum is the CEO and director of legal services for the National Association of the Deaf. Speaking through an interpreter, he said ADA compliance remains a problem in a number of key institutions. Law enforcement is one.
In Colorado last year, a deaf woman sued police, claiming that officers refused to provide an interpreter, resulting in a misunderstanding that caused her children to be taken away. She did not regain custody for two months.
In New Jersey, a deaf woman sued after being refused an interpreter when police arrested her for an unpaid parking ticket. She was taken to jail, became confused and agitated, was sedated, and later hospitalized. In another case, a deaf man claimed two youths harassed him because of his disability, then one crashed into a door and was injured while running away. He called 911 to get help for the boy, but responding officers refused him an interpreter, misunderstood what happened, and arrested him for assault.
“I think that most of it really boils down to the fact that most law enforcement and their superiors …. never really, well, consider that there's a law in the books called the ADA — which means they need to make adjustments in the way they do business,” Rosenblum said. “It just doesn't happen.
“Unless and until lawsuits come about. “
A final call
Aug. 19, 2021.
“That's the day that Scott died,” Mary Karol Matchett said.
Scott took his own life. At home.
“When Doug called me on FaceTime, he told me that Scott did not make it,” she said.
Arriving to a chaotic scene, she said they once again asked for an interpreter. None was available.
“I was trying to lip read at the same time as trying to control my emotions as a mother who had just lost her son — right there, you know, right in the next room,” she said.
Police did eventually summon an interpreter, who arrived after most everyone else had left.
In the years since, the Matchetts said, they have reached out again to Brighton police as well as Town Supervisor Bill Moehle. But they have seen no action.
“This has been going on for too long in the Brighton Police Department,” Doug Matchett said. “Just that phrase, ‘An interpreter isn’t available.’ So the two of us decided it was time to do something about it. Because it’s got to stop.”
In their lawsuit, the Matchetts say they are haunted by the possibility that effective communication could have saved their son.
Today his picture is everywhere in their home, in frames and photobooks, tucked into the corner of a dining room mirror. And he is always with them. Tattooed on each parent’s left wrist is a series of numbers and letters.
“That’s the coordinates where my son is buried,” Doug Matchett said. "That’s in Key Largo, out in the water.”
They spread some of Scott’s ashes off the Florida Keys. It's where father and son took their last scuba diving trip together — a week before Scott died.
