Debit Card Company Sued for Anti-Deaf Discrimination
Thursday, August 09, 2012
AccountNow, a California-based debit card company, is being sued by a deaf man who claims the company insisted he communicate with their customer service representatives by phone.
Richard Halavais, who cannot hear because of a stroke, tried numerous times over a period of two months to get AccountNow to communicate with him by email so he could resolve problems with his prepaid debit card, through which he receives his disability funds.
Things got so bad that Halavais, who was in a rehab center, had to hire an attorney to get AccountNow’s attention, and even then, he had trouble accessing his money to pay for his prescriptions.
In July, Halavais was finally able to use his debit card. By then, the delays had cost him nearly $12,000 in extra expenses because he hadn’t been able to leave the rehab facility as scheduled.
Although he now has access to his funds, Halavais is suing, claiming AccountNow was responsible for a “systematic pattern of discrimination,” unfair business practices, and civil rights violations.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
To Learn More:
It's Like Talking to a Deaf Man . . . (by Matt Reynolds, Courthouse News)
Halavais v. AccountNow Inc. (U.S. District Court) (pdf)
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