It is sad day for Sie Ervine who tried to sue a hospital in Nevada for repeated dismissal of requests for an interpreter to accommodate him. It wasn’t his first time requesting an interpreter and eventually sueing. He had a problem obtaining interpreters during the time that his wife Charlene was admitted to hospital for cancer complications.
Soon after Charlene died of cancer, Sie tried to push a lawsuit to fight for lack of accessibility for his wife  and himself during their countless of visit at Pahrumn-based Desert View Regional Medical Center for the past year. According to law, the minimum of ability to lawsuit – the case must be within two years old. Sie’s wife Charlene died in 2007, the lawsuit started in 2010. There was a three year gap, one year too late. The purpose of this lawsuit is to imply that the hospital failed to communicate with the Deaf person under the federal Rehabilitation Act and Americans with Disabilities Act.
U.S. District Judge James Mahan ruled in Sie Ervine’s favor but problem was that his filing was not in a timely manner and because of the two-year deadline, he had been one year too late at the time. Three judge panel of the 9th Circuit reviewed Rehabilitation Act claimed yesterday that the finding does support the fact is that Desert View Regional Medical Center was wrongfully discriminating against Sie and his wife which was in violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. “A claim under the act will not be untimely merely because similar, even identical violations of the act occurred outside the statutory period.” said Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain.
My advice to you, if this ever happen to you in future, please take this seriously into consideration and file in timely manner. Do not wait too long. Time will run out real fast before you know it.