Deaf Vee Journal released an article called, “Convo: A Deaf-Owned Sweatshop?“. There was an email submitted to Convo on July 12, 2021, and Convo responded late July 15, 2021, minutes after the article had been released following a different email sent on July 15, 2021, inquiring about their intended deadline to respond.
Hi Mary Pat,
Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us; however we do note that there was in our view a short window of time to respond to your long list of questions, several of which indicate some misunderstandings about the FCC rules; and inaccuracies about Convo’s current practices (such as the assertion that we rely on contract interpreters to staff 30% of our minutes; which is untrue.) We continue to work in partnership with our interpreting management team, Human Resources, and regulatory department to ensure the best experience possible for our customers and employees; while remaining in compliance with FCC regulations. We welcome your interest in learning about Convo’s position on At Home interpreting – and encourage you to read more about that here: https://www.fcc.gov/comment-sought-convo-petition-rulemaking-vrs. You may also learn more about the FCC rules and regulations through the FCC’s website at www.fcc.gov.
Thanks,
Jay K
The list of questions Deaf Vee Journal submitted to Convo Communications is available for your viewing. (clickable link)
Good Afternoon Mary Pat Stahlman,
Professional courtesy dictates a week’s time to respond to a lengthy question. Your posting it too soon is unprofessional and you are just stirring the pot for trouble rather than honestly wanting to know if what you heard was true. Give them time to get your facts like a good reporter before sharing it with the public
Hello Brenda,
I have sent you an email explaining the following but have not heard back:
Thank you for your message. We were clear in our first email with Convo that we were publishing concerns from interpreters and because of the length of the content we wanted to give them adequate time to come out with their own responses. They did not request that we hold off on the article for their answers so we moved forward. As you stated, it’s important to give them enough time to respond and their email was in response to our email inquiring about a timeline so we could communicate that with the community. People’s truths don’t rely on other people’s truths.