CODA and SDFL

 

By John R. Byrne

The film CODA—an acronym for Child of Deaf Adults—recently won the Oscar for Best Picture.  Troy Kotsur, the deaf actor who played the deaf father of the main character, also took home an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.  It’s an incredible movie.  Its success has brought more media attention to a recent order issued by Judge Ruiz.  The Florida Bar Journal covered it yesterday.  The case involved a deaf woman who said she struggled to get proper help at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston.  The parties settled the case but Judge Ruiz found that the hospital failed to honor its agreement to train staff on how to properly interact with the deaf.  He ultimately ordered the hospital to pay the $16,000 fine to the Center for Independent Living of Broward County, an entity that provides deaf interpreters for certain events. 

Troy Kotsur’s Oscar acceptance speech is worth a watch.  May want to have a box of tissues handy….