Sign language

The 53-year-old deaf man from Rochester recently filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department, charging Empire Haven and festival organizers with disregarding his civil rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Willard said Empire Haven, just outside Moravia in Cayuga County, rejected his request to provide a sign language interpreter for the deaf so he could understand what would be said at several festival workshops he wanted to attend. Also, he offered to pay for his own interpreter if the nudist camp would discount or waive his park entry and workshop registration fees.
                                      
Willard said he has tried twice since 2009 to get the nudist camp to provide an interpreter for him. In July, he received an email from Empire Haven saying, “An interpreter for the deaf is not something Empire Haven or the organizer of the naturist festival provide for this event or any other event.”
That response triggered Willard's complaint to the Justice Department.