Deaf Investors Sue TD Ameritrade

Chicago, IL – The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and two deaf individuals filed a lawsuit today against TD Ameritrade for refusing to provide captioning to make the audio content of their website accessible to deaf individuals.  The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

The complaint charges that thinkorswim, a trading platform that TD Ameritrade owns and operates, has numerous videos with audio content that are inaccessible to deaf individuals.  The NAD sent a letter to TD Ameritrade requesting that the corporation add captioning.  TD Ameritrade responded that captioning was not available.

“More than 54 million Americans engage in online stock trading, and as TD Ameritrade advertises on its thinkorswim website: ‘Education is a must in trading.’  There are 48 million deaf and hard of hearing Americans who deserve the same opportunity and access to learn about and participate in online trading, so all trading education websites should be accessible.” stated Howard Rosenblum, CEO of the National Association of the Deaf.

“The Americans with Disabilities Act requires covered entities such as financial institutions to make fully and equally accessible all that they have to offer the public,” said Michael Steven Stein, an attorney with Stein & Vargas, LLP, one of the firms representing the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs are represented by the Austin Law Group LLC, the National Association of the Deaf, and Stein & Vargas, LLP.

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The National Association of the Deaf is the nation’s premier civil rights organization of, by, and for, deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the United States.

Stein & Vargas, LLP is a civil rights firm based in Washington, D.C. and committed to the principle that all people have full and equal access to all parts of society.

Austin Law Group LLC is a law firm based in Chicago, Illinois.

CONTACTS

National Association of the Deaf
Lizzie Sorkin
301-587-1788
[email protected]

Stein & Vargas, LLP 
Mary Vargas
240-793-3185
[email protected]