Nasty Judge Made Deaf Woman Cry
“A deaf Edmonton woman is claiming discrimination after running out of court in tears yesterday when a judge refused to vary an order making her pay $150 in costs.
Kimberly Wood is upset because she claims the court costs were the result of her not being able to provide her own sign language interpreter for an earlier appearance and says it should have been up to the court to do it.”
“”That is not the way this works,” he said, adding that if the landlord involved in the initial small claims dispute had appeared, he might have ordered further costs. Wood then said to the judge: “Well, I guess this is an issue for the Human Rights Commission.”"
“Wood began crying and ran out of the courtroom, heading for a nearby washroom. When she returned, she signed to the interpreter: “Life is not fair.”" edmontonsun.com – Edmonton News – Judge turns deaf ear
Commentary: Belatedly he realized that the provincial court civil division provides interpreters for the Deaf people. However, he refused to withdraw the fees. Not a smart move, considering that the media had taken an interest in this case. I hope the woman will get an advocate to represent her regarding the fee and see the judge utter mea culpa for his actions. The office will open tomorrow.
Edmonton Civil
Phone: 780-422-2508; Fax: 780-427-4348
C. Cameron, Administrator
Sittings: Monday through Friday at 9:30 A.M. and 1:30 P.M.
MZ
P.S. There was a problem with my emailbox address last night and this am. All the emails were bounced off as a result. As soon as a friend alerted me, I fixed the problem and my e mailbox is open again. Many apologies for that technical problem. MZ
“A deaf Edmonton woman is claiming discrimination after running out of court in tears yesterday when a judge refused to vary an order making her pay $150 in costs.
Kimberly Wood is upset because she claims the court costs were the result of her not being able to provide her own sign language interpreter for an earlier appearance and says it should have been up to the court to do it.”
“”That is not the way this works,” he said, adding that if the landlord involved in the initial small claims dispute had appeared, he might have ordered further costs. Wood then said to the judge: “Well, I guess this is an issue for the Human Rights Commission.”"
“Wood began crying and ran out of the courtroom, heading for a nearby washroom. When she returned, she signed to the interpreter: “Life is not fair.”" edmontonsun.com – Edmonton News – Judge turns deaf ear
Commentary: Belatedly he realized that the provincial court civil division provides interpreters for the Deaf people. However, he refused to withdraw the fees. Not a smart move, considering that the media had taken an interest in this case. I hope the woman will get an advocate to represent her regarding the fee and see the judge utter mea culpa for his actions. The office will open tomorrow.
Edmonton Civil
Phone: 780-422-2508; Fax: 780-427-4348
C. Cameron, Administrator
Sittings: Monday through Friday at 9:30 A.M. and 1:30 P.M.
MZ
P.S. There was a problem with my emailbox address last night and this am. All the emails were bounced off as a result. As soon as a friend alerted me, I fixed the problem and my e mailbox is open again. Many apologies for that technical problem. MZ
November 30th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
That sucks! However, I find it ironic she vented her personal feelings towards the interpreter. Isn’t this unprofessional?
November 30th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Well, the poor woman was overwhelmed. She had a legal dispute with her landlord and found herself dealing with another dispute, this time, from a judge, of all people, and being charged with a hefty fine she cannot afford.
It wasn’t professional, but understandable, in her position. It was a difficult situation.
November 30th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Oh brother.
The court systems tend to suck… I majored in criminal justice at RIT and quickly learned it from listening to the experiences in the court system.
But the judge SHOULD have immediately withdrawn the fees or he’d be facing the discrimination charge.
November 30th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
I hope she contacts DOJ and file an ADA complaint. She should also contact NAD too. This is happening too often all over the USA.
November 30th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Oops. This is in Canada. I don’t even know anything about their laws when it comes to these type of things.
November 30th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Wow, I cannot understand about being hassled by Judge.
Of course, it was not professional!
November 30th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Yeah… I believe Canada’s court system is similar to Great Britain’s court system? Hopefully someone from Canada could leave a comment or two here on Mishka’s blog posting to explain about how the court system functions.
That would be a good lesson for us Americans.
November 30th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
From reading the news article, there are more issues involved: the original dispute which was not mentioned, the lady paying for her own interpreters in previous appearances, and payment to the landlord merely for showing up in those appearances.
Apparently the fine of $150 was to reimburse the landlord for showing up and nothing was mentioned about reimbursing the lady for her paying for interpreters. Also, because an interpreter did not show up, she was apparrently unable to fight the fine to be paid to the landlord.
Seems the judge missed the boat on more than one count. Since small claims court does not need lawyers, the lady was also unable to use a lawyer to fight for her, leaving her at a double disadvantage. Tsk. What is the local agency serving the deaf doing about this?
November 30th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Dianrez, yes, there are several other issues that need to be addressed.
I googled him. Ahh, he’s an old man who needs to retire as he is behind the civil right laws.
“Judge Donald Ingram was born in Edmonton, and earned his bachelor of arts and law degrees from the University of Alberta in 1956. He articled under Garth Fryett and Douglas Matheson, and was admitted to the bar on May 29, 1957 in Calgary.
His career as a civil litigation lawyer began with the firm of Matheson and Company in Edmonton. He rose quickly to become a senior partner with expertise in the practice areas of criminal, corporate and administrative law.
He was appointed to the Edmonton civil claims division of the Alberta provincial court in January 2000.” http://www.lawsocietyalberta.com/LSA_Archives/index.cfm?page=awards.cfm
November 30th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Edmonton Civil
Phone: 780-422-2508; Fax: 780-427-4348
C. Cameron, Administrator
Sittings: Monday through Friday at 9:30 A.M. and 1:30 P.M.
Edmonton Law Courts, 1A Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton, AB T5J 0R2 – Court of Appeal
- Court of Queen’s Bench
- Provincial Court Criminal
- Provincial Court Civil
- Provincial Court Family & Youth
- Provincial Court Traffic
http://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/Home/Contact/tabid/209/Default.aspx
November 30th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
So sad, the courts does not recongize nor understand deaf or hard of hearing.
You’re right, MZ that this judge is out of date and needs to retire, he doesn’t understand deaf woman’s plight. Heartless.
“What goes, comes around”
November 30th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Hello folks,
As a Canadian, I can attest to the fact we DO NOT have any A.D.A. or equivalency. Kim, the Deaf woman in question, would do better to complain to the Canadian Human Rights Commission or Alberta Human Rights Commission. Check these out:
http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/default-en.asp
http://www.albertahumanrights.ab.ca/
Hope this helps somewhat. I just wish we had ADA here in Canada. The ignorance towards the Deaf simply boggles the mind at times.
Kim’s situation in Alberta is mindboggling because Edmonton has a large and vibrant Deaf community, which has worked so hard to enlighten people.
Mishka’s opinion as to the reason for the judge’s nastiness and ignorance makes sense to me.
Shel
November 30th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
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December 2nd, 2008 at 7:58 pm
wow.. i was not expecting this kind of response all over canada and now in the states… i m the personally that lady .. i have a great support from edmonton deaf community and the deaf community all across canada.. i have a great advocate.. the biggest ironic i find out that is the judge is hard of hearing.. ppppffffftttttt.. still he refused to reverse the order.. so i am in process of getting an human rights lawyer and will sue that judge.. that judge should be send out to the pasture… i believe i will win but this is gonna be a long road.. i want to change the policy and to make sure interpreter is provided not only for courts.. for other things.. i m jealous of my american friends .. ada is wonderful thing to have.. it s a great asset.. we will fight this to the end.. i end up refusing to pay 150 bucks.. i m appealling to the higher court for this… that judge is pure discrimination!!! thanks for all the support and the feedbacks.. i would love more to come in..
May 26th, 2009 at 11:29 am
I have total sympathy for this poor lady. I’ve brought two actions in front of Judge Ingram this year, and I can only say he is an absolute bully.
I’m 5″9 and weigh 250 lbs and bench press almost 300 lbs. I also have a business degree and a business designation, and I’ve never been so intimidated, scared, nervous, and belittled in all of my life. “The Honourable Judge Ingram” is not suited for small claims/Provincial court. This forum is suppose to be laman’s court. A place where average citizen can seek justice without the cost of a lawyer. Judge Ingram is not suited for this environment. He’d be much better suited in QB, where he can yell and belittle lawyers. At least they are making 200 bucks an hour for the abuse.