PORT ORANGE, Fla. — A deaf woman in Volusia County said instead of getting help from a postal worker while showing her 8-year-old son how to ship a package, she was ridiculed and asked to leave.
The woman, who did not want to be identified, speaks well and explained to the Port Orange postal worker that she’s deaf, but the worker apparently refused to communicate with her through written notes.
“She started kind of making fun of me and pointing to the paper, but she kept speaking at me. I told her repeatedly, ‘I’m deaf,’” said the woman.
The situation escalated until she said a man who appeared to be supervisor also refused to communicate in writing at first.
“I said to him, ‘You know, this is illegal. You can’t refuse to serve a deaf person at the post office. This is a federal government building.’ And that’s when he wrote the note,” she said.
The note read, “Call your congressman, who do not (sic) have to write down for you. It’s not the law. Get an interpreter.”
The woman said she became even more humiliated by what the man allegedly did next.
“At that point, he started treating us like we were dogs, literally just motioning at us like we were dogs, like we needed to get out of here,” she said .
The woman went to an Ormond Beach post office and complained.
The postal service issued a statement to Channel 9 about the incident.
It said the woman was issued an apology and the Postal Service, “Does not condone the type of exchange that occurred here. The Postal Service’s expectation is that all customers will be treated with dignity and respect, and receive courteous and helpful service from our employees.”
The woman said she has not heard from the United States Postal Office, but would like to see workers become educated in communicating with deaf people and the man who wrote the note to be fired.
A local organization has offered education on assisting the hearing impaired.
WFTV
