Silva v. Baptist Health S. Fla., Inc.

303 F. Supp. 3d 1334
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedMarch 30, 2018
DocketCase No. 14–CV–21803–WILLIAMS
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 303 F. Supp. 3d 1334 (Silva v. Baptist Health S. Fla., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Silva v. Baptist Health S. Fla., Inc., 303 F. Supp. 3d 1334 (S.D. Fla. 2018).

Opinion

KATHLEEN M. WILLIAMS, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS MATTER is before the Court on the supplement to motion for summary judgment on the issue of deliberate indifference filed by Defendants Baptist Health South Florida, Inc. ("Baptist Health"); Baptist Hospital of Miami, Inc. ("Baptist Hospital"); and South Miami Hospital, Inc. ("SMH"). (DE 156).1 As explained below, because the undisputed facts establish that Defendants were not deliberately indifferent to Plaintiffs' federally protected rights, Defendants' motion for summary judgment on deliberate indifference (DE 60; DE 156) is GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND

This is a disability discrimination case. Defendants are two Miami-area non-profit hospitals and their non-profit parent company. Plaintiffs Cheylla Silva and John Paul Jebian are unrelated deaf individuals who allege that, during their many visits to Defendants' facilities, Defendants ineffectively communicated with them and were deliberately indifferent to their federally-protected rights. Consequently, Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit seeking injunctive relief and compensatory damages pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") and Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (the "RA"). The Eleventh Circuit determined that Plaintiffs' injunctive relief claims may proceed to trial because genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether Defendants provided Plaintiffs with effective communication as required by the ADA and RA. (DE 149); see also Silva v. Baptist Health S. Florida, Inc. , 856 F.3d 824 (11th Cir. 2017). The sole question now before the Court is whether Plaintiffs' damages claim may also proceed to trial, the answer to which depends on whether triable issues exist regarding *1336whether Defendants were deliberately indifferent to each Plaintiff's federally protected rights to effective communication.

By their count, Silva and Jebian visited Defendants' facilities a combined 59 times between March 2009 and April 2016. (DE 158-1; DE 158-2; DE 158-3).2 Plaintiffs argue that summary judgment is inappropriate because, in light of their long histories of visits which they contend yielded varying degrees of success obtaining in-person American Sign Language ("ASL") interpreters, a triable issue of fact must exist as to Defendants' deliberate indifference.3 From each Plaintiff's perspective, "Defendants' failure to fully and effectively communicate with [them] was a common and repeated occurrence, and not isolated *1337to routine visits or check-ups. In fact, Defendants' failure to communicate with [them] often occurred during critical medical encounters." (DE 61-13 ¶ 11; DE 61-14 ¶ 11).

Plaintiffs' argument rests entirely on their generalized and identical affidavit statements that during each visit, they "repeatedly requested that hospital staff provide a live ASL interpreter to help ... communicate with nurses and doctors regarding ... condition and care. On most occasions, no interpreter was present. On some occasions, an interpreter was provided." (DE 61-13 ¶ 7; DE 61-14 ¶ 7). They state, without identifying specific instances, that "[o]n some occasions, hospital staff would attempt to use a video relay interpreting ('VRI') machine to communicate with [them] ... [h]owever, the machine was inoperable or unusable. Sometimes, it appeared that hospital staff could not figure out how to operate the machine. Other times, the picture would be blocked, frozen, or degraded." (DE 61-13 ¶ 10; DE 61-14 ¶ 10).4 Plaintiffs also point to the fact that Defendants often attempted to communicate with them through family and friends. (DE 61 ¶¶ 28-31, 40-43). Because federal regulations prohibit Defendants from relying " 'on an adult accompanying an individual with a disability to interpret or facilitate communication' except in narrow circumstances," Plaintiffs assert that Defendants must have known that in using family to interpret, they were denying Plaintiffs their federally protected rights. Finally, Plaintiffs contend that Defendants' promulgation of policies to ensure effective communication with deaf individuals shows that Defendants had notice that failure to provide the specific accommodations Plaintiffs requested resulted in ineffective communication.

Defendants respond that they have promulgated and diligently adhered to policies for the provision of interpreter services for the deaf. (DE 59 ¶ 3). Those policies provide for a range of services to assist deaf patients and their family members. (DE 59 ¶ 7). One of those services is an in-person interpreter. (DE 59 ¶ 7). Another is VRI, although VRI is not available at Baptist Health's outpatient facilities. (DE 59 ¶¶ 7, 9).5 At other times, depending on circumstances, Defendants provide patients with *1338other auxiliary aids and accommodations such as "ASL translation via family member, text telephones (TTYs), lip-reading, gestures and written notes." (DE 59 ¶ 59). Defendants also claim that Plaintiffs never complained about the accommodations at the time treatment was provided or that communication was ineffective. (DE 159 at 2).

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate "if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). The movant "bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of [the record] which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett , 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). "An issue of fact is 'material' if, under the applicable substantive law, it might affect the outcome of the case. An issue of fact is 'genuine' if the record taken as a whole could lead a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party." U.S. ex rel. Urquilla-Diaz v. Kaplan Univ. , 780 F.3d 1039, 1050 (11th Cir. 2015) (quoting Harrison v. Culliver , 746 F.3d 1288, 1298 (11th Cir. 2014) ).

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Bluebook (online)
303 F. Supp. 3d 1334, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/silva-v-baptist-health-s-fla-inc-flsd-2018.