Zemedagegehu also said the jail failed provide a communications device to help him communicate with his lawyer and performed medical procedures on him without explaining them or getting his consent.
A native of Ethiopia, he can communicate in American Sign Language but is largely unable to communicate in written English.
Zemedagegehu sued the sheriff s office in federal court, saying his treatment failed to meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Among the concerns raised in his lawsuit was the jail s reliance on teletypewriter devices to allow deaf inmates to communicate with people outside the jail. The sheriff s office has defended its use of the TTY machine, but Zemedagegehu s lawsuit said the device is useless for someone who can t read English and obsolete because videophones are now used predominantly in the deaf community.