This is an updated version of an earlier report.
Webster Bank will beef up disabled customers’ video/voice access to its services at all of its branches under a settlement with federal authorities, prosecutors say. More Connecticut banks may be required to follow suit.
The Waterbury regional lender was the target of a complaint from a customer who is deaf and alleged Webster refused to do business with him via a video-relay service, Connecticut U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly said Wednesday.
The settlement between the bank and federal prosecutors resolves those Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) issues, Daly said. She said Webster cooperated fully to devise and amend its ADA policies once the complaint was lodged and the investigation began.
The agreement, Daly said, requires Webster to accept video relay calls in all of its branches and to amend its policies, practices and training to ensure the removal of barriers to access at its branches.
“Individuals who have disabilities must not be denied equal access to the services offered by financial institutions,” Daly said in a statement.
Webster later issued a statement on the matter.
“Webster Bank always has sought to accommodate the needs of its deaf and hearing impaired customers and has made the accommodations required by the Americans with Disabilities Act,” it read. “We have agreed to provide a voice relay system as a further service to our deaf and hearing impaired customers and to settle this dispute.”
Connecticut’s top federal prosecutor also signaled that more settlements could be on the way as a result of a wider probe into other unidentified banks’ compliance with ADA guidelines.
“Our office has also received complaints alleging that other financial institutions have refused to communicate with individuals with disabilities who use relay services to communicate by telephone,” Daly said. “As such refusals suggest a discriminatory practice, we have begun a compliance review of banks in Connecticut to ensure that all such banks are complying with their obligations under the ADA.”
