Dive Brief:
- Creighton University in Omaha, NE, has been ordered to pay $478,000 in legal fees to a deaf medical student who won a discrimination lawsuit.
- Michael Argenyi won the suit last year, when a federal jury found that Creighton had discriminated against him by refusing to provide him with interpreters as he attended medical school there. Argenyi had offered to pay for the interpreters.
- A federal judge ruled last year that Creighton had to provide Argenyi with special equipment and interpreters he needed to finish his last two years of medical school, but the school didn’t have to reimburse him for the $110,000 he had already spent on interpreters and transcription equipment.
Dive Insight:
In hindsight, the university’s decision not to provide Argenyi with interpreters looks pretty boneheaded, considering the $478,000 tab, plus its own legal fees and the cost of negative publicity — especially considering that Argenyi was willing to pay for the interpreters out of his own pocket. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2009, and nearly $621,000 in legal fees were sought in March to cover nearly five years of work combined from five attorneys, including some from disability rights organizations, with more than 2,300 billable hours. The university had objected, saying the amount was inflated. Following the latest decision, Creighton is deciding whether to appeal, the Associated Press reported.
