I don’t know if this is really threadworthy but I’m interested in what people here think.
As I’ve mentioned before, to make money I’m a talent agent and have been for many years.
One of the agents who works for us saw a talented hearing-impaired actor on a TV show, looked them up, and saw they did not have an agent, only a manager. So he reached out to set up a meeting. The manager was receptive and set the meeting (it’ll be on Zoom), then said “please reach out to this interpreting company” or something along those lines. The interpreting company said they were available and sent their contract and fee schedule. The agent reached back out to the manager to see if he was understanding this correctly, and the manager said
The actor’s entire family is Deaf, he does not have a family member to provide interpretation. Best practices for interviewing/meeting with a Deaf individual(s) is to honor their preferred interpreters. Access to accurate communication is crucial for all parties involved to ensure everyone is conveying and receiving information in their respective language. The ADA requires all businesses to provide auxiliary aids/services, including qualified interpreters, to ensure effective communication with people who are Deaf or hard of hearing. Per the ADA, the cost of such services may not be placed on the individual who is Deaf or hard of hearing. Asking a Deaf person to provide and pay for their own interpreter is akin to asking a wheelchair user to purchase and bring their own ramp to gain access to your office; which would never be done, and this is no different.
I think this is interesting because I totally see where the manager is coming from, but also wonder if there’s a continuum of responsibility. Requiring us to hire and pay for a specific interpreter seems…I don’t know. If a hearing-impaired person walks into Best Buy, is Best Buy required to provide an interpreter? Should they be? I really don’t know!
EDIT: Just for clarity, we’re certainly going to pay for this interpreter, if only because the meeting comes at our suggestion. But the manager seems to be implying it would be our responsibility either way, which I’m not sure about.
I’m sure you’re not required to hire the deaf party’s chosen interpreter, but it is important that a interpreter is properly trained to translate business interviews. Assuming the chosen interpreter is available and reasonably priced, I don’t see the reason for not using this interpreter.
Your obligations in regards to accommodations is determined by the ADA. You should probably consult with your business attorney to understand your rights and responsibilities here.
This is probably the right thing to do. But if the best thing for anybody to do when they have the opportunity to meet a deaf person is to consult with an attorney, that cannot be good for promoting the advancement of deaf people.
And this is where I think the manager’s approach was harmful. We’re new to this, we need some coaching, and are obviously receptive. Going “well, the ADA requires you to…” before the initial meeting is the kind of thing that makes a person think “I don’t know that I want any part of this.”
Brief googling suggests ADA only applies if you have 15 or more employees (and they are an employee) or what you can ask during an interview or if you are a “public accommodation”.
Also, if they can read and write, typing would accommodate most deaf people.
Dunno if that’s right but I couldn’t find anything different and I did check CA and LA.
Yeah I don’t think the ADA requirements impose much on us at all. This is not a job interview, in any case - our clients are not our employees.
But I’m more interested in what’s right/appropriate. I mean, being like “sorry, ADA doesn’t require us to do that” seems not like how I want to be. But the manager’s approach very much has my guard up.
As a disabled person, I would guess they are just as frustrated with the lack of systemic accomodations as you are and have learned to send this as a standard ask while understanding implicitly the legal limitations if you say no.
Idk if they’d be receptive to any dialogue, especially given the lack of care they’ve probably received when trying to negotiate. You are having a unique response to a person of disability. It is normal though for them to struggle to see and respond to you as an exception.
That is why I think it’s okay to discuss with your attorney. It’s the system’s fault that you are in this position, not yours or the deaf person’s
What is your reaction if the ADA actually does not require you to hire an interpreter? It sounds like you would use the interpreter anyways because you’re catering to someone you want as a client, but are concerned about dealing with someone who may just be outright lying to you about the law. If you become this actor’s talent agent, is it on you to make sure the actor gets the necessary accommodations on any job?
This is getting to the larger issues I’m considering - if we were to work with this actor/manager, what does the future look like? Yes, some element of seeking accommodations would be part of our job.
This starts getting to the nitty gritty, but: if a casting director is holding auditions for specifically deaf performers, they would almost certainly hire an interpreter. But in my experience most disabled performers do not want to be considered solely for disabled roles. So that would put us in a position where we get an actor an audition for a role where they’re willing to think outside the box, and we say “OK now you have to hire an interpreter”.
I’m deaf in one ear and have been since i was 1-2 years old so it’s all I’ve ever know. Obviously that’s much different from being completely deaf, I get by just fine in most situations and people generally don’t even know about my condition so I can’t really put myself in their shoes but I’m guessing the managers to the point/harsh response is because of all of the pushback they’ve probably had throughout their life. I get where they’re coming from but your questions are also valid and don’t show any lack of care/thoughtfulness to me.
I hope you’re talking about the deaf actor from Last of Us
I don’t get why using an interpreter would be necessary or even preferable for a first meeting online. In what way is that better than using text chat and a camera?
From my brief research, for born deaf people English (or other) is a second language (ASL != English) and many prefer sign interpretation. I’m not saying text wouldn’t be a reasonable accommodation, just something I found looking this up.
In a related vein, it’s my understanding that most people born deaf don’t progress beyond a middle school reading level, so expecting them to keep up in a live chat exchange might not be reasonable.
@NotBruceZ trying to communicate only in written language with a deaf person is insulting and ignorant.
@LFS I’m not aware of anything saying it has to be a specific company to do translation services. Everywhere I’ve worked as in person or video interpreters for deaf patients. They tend to use family members more, but I actually prefer the interpreters as they do a better job translating the medical words.
In my wife experience, who worked with deaf kids for three years and did her doctorate with a deaf person. She wasn’t aware of any specific translation service being required by the ADA and she believes the school chose her friends interpreter, but also her friend could have complained and gotten the interpreter changed if need be (it never was).
Good luck in the talent industry stuff. My best friend from high school has gone from mail room to partner. Crazy tough industry as far as I can tell.
I can’t see the entire exchange of course, but I would be moderately/highly worried to work with someone after such an officious response. It’s writing that doesn’t maximize their chances of being successful in their profession as an actor, which is all they should be trying to do. If you are requiring an accommodation or stating your entitlement to an accommodation, then you should do so in the way that maximizes your chances of being successful in your profession as an actor. They clearly aren’t (unless your initial contact was very pigheaded or something).
“We require everyone meeting with _____ to cover the cost of their preferred translator as a basic accommodation. In employment and public accommodations settings, the ADA requires this, but in our situation we believe it’s a practical necessity to forming a business relationship” is a much friendlier way to get the same outcome. That they didn’t say that is telling. Evoking the ADA when it pretty obviously doesn’t apply here is a red flag imo, especially about the specific translator (the kickback comment is cynical, but that’s the exact reason this arrangement would run afoul purchasing practices in many/all large companies).
Talk to your lawyer before the meeting and be ready to say “interesting opportunity but no thanks” afterwards. And probably stop posting about it on this thread.
My wife works in Disability Services and says everything the manager says is correct. Maybe being under 15 employees, like micro said, might make a difference though.
Asking them to interview in text is not acceptable, for the reasons others have outlined in here already.
The Best Buy example doesn’t come up much because the disabled person is required to give adequate notice (a few days I think), so if they just show up at a store, the store doesn’t need to provide an interpreter. If the deaf person made an appointment with adequate notice, then yes, Best Buy would need to provide an interpreter.
And interpreters are not usually hired for frivolous things like Best Buy because they are in super high demand, so it’s impolite (though not illegal) to hire them for low priority stuff.
idk why a typing-based interview while simultaneously on video is insulting. i don’t think you’re losing any more eye contact than if you had an interpreter on the side. the interpreter would slow down the conversation more than just typing, i’d think.
i’m imagining an exaggerated scenario where you’re interviewing seth rogan and he says he can’t function socially unless he’s high on weed, so you have to buy him some weed that day.
