Deaf professor files civil rights lawsuit against Penn State, alleges disability discrimination

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Deaf professor files civil rights lawsuit against Penn State, alleges disability discrimination

An associate professor who is deaf alleged in a lawsuit filed Friday that Penn State violated his civil rights when the university removed his two full-time American Sign Language interpreters.

Joseph M. Valente, an associate professor of education since 2010, cast the university’s move as a cost-cutting measure at the expense of accessibility. The suit said his accommodation was replaced with an “inadequate framework that severely impairs Dr. Valente’s ability to fulfill his professional obligations.”

When he pushed back, Valente alleged the university retaliated against him and created a hostile work environment. He said Penn State canceled his graduate courses, blocked his grant funding accommodations and excluded him from faculty governance.

The 27-page lawsuit also said the university placed Valente on administrative leave after Penn State’s Office of Ethics and Compliance launched an administrative investigation, prohibiting him from teaching, contacting students or accessing the University Park campus.

“Penn State’s actions have marginalized Dr. Valente within the academic community, caused significant project delays, and inflicted financial harm,” his attorneys wrote in the suit. “Through this action, Dr. Valente seeks to vindicate not only his own rights under federal disability law, but also to ensure that Penn State fulfills its legal obligations to provide reasonable accommodations to faculty members with disabilities and maintain an academic environment free from discrimination and retaliation.”

A Penn State spokesperson declined Tuesday to offer an initial response to Valente’s allegations. The university generally does not speak publicly about pending litigation.

The lawsuit said Penn State formally approved providing Valente with two full-time ASL interpreters about a decade ago. The plan also included three backup interpreters who were familiar with Valente’s work.

That accommodation allowed him for six years to teach undergraduate and graduate courses, advise doctorate students and participate in faculty meetings, his suit said.

He claimed that longtime accommodation continued until the university provided only one full-time interpreter. Valente said he immediately experienced “significant barriers” to performing his job after the reduction.

“The current accommodation framework effectively forces Dr. Valente to choose between fulfilling his teaching duties and maintaining his research and service obligations due to artificially limited interpreter availability,” his attorneys wrote.

Among Valente’s claims is an allegation Penn State violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, a 1990 federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability.

He is seeking, among other changes, to have his two full-time ASL interpreters restored and a requirement that Penn State establish a centralized funding system for accommodations and implement a comprehensive disability training program.

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