Loss in translation

Deaf man claims $200M ‘sign’ mix-up

What’s the sign for “whoops”? A deaf former IBM worker claims he wrongly accepted a lowball discrimination settlement of $200,000 because his lawyer exaggerated his knowledge of sign language and confused the sign for “million” with that for “thousand” while negotiating the deal.

James Wang, 49, a software engineer who lost his hearing at age 2, says he hoped to pocket $200 million from IBM in 2013 after accusing the tech giant of firing him for being deaf, according to his Manhattan state court suit.

But when he got the paperwork for the settlement, he was shocked to find he was being offered just $200,000, the suit says.

Wang, of upstate Highland, says he used the American Sign Language gesture for “million” — which entails tapping on an open palm twice — while stating his terms to his attorney, Andrew Rozynski.

But Rozynski, who claimed to be fluent in ASL, thought he was making the sign for “thousands” — which includes tapping the palm once — and agreed to a much lower deal with IBM’s attorneys, the suit says.

Wang is demanding unspecified damages from Rozynski and his firm, Eisenberg & Baum LLP.

“The firm eliminated written communication and American Sign Language interpreting services because [Rozynski] said he knew ASL,” Wang recalled in an interview with The Post.

He said he chose to demand a payout in the hundreds of millions after reading about a $137 million settlement in an unrelated sexualharassment case.

He got papers in 2014 showing his settlement was just $207,500.

“I did not realize he read my sign mistakenly until after mediation,” Wang said.

He refused to accept the offer, but IBM demanded a judge enforce the agreement, arguing that Wang’s claim of a sign-language mix-up was not credible.

He has appealed the decision all the way to the US Supreme Court but lost every time.

“I wish I were not deaf so I can hear exactly what they talked [about],” he said in a written, inperson interview as his eyes filled with tears.

Wang is representing himself in the suit.

Rozynski said the suit has “absolutely no merit.” He noted that an October 2014 ruling by federal Judge Vincent Briccetti found that the lawyer acted “professionally, competently and appropriately.”

Briccetti also wrote that it was implausible for Wang to believe IBM would settle for $200 million — more than 3,000 times greater than his salary.

MOTION TO SUE: James Wang, a deaf software engineer, demonstrates the sign-language gesture for “million,” which he claims his lawyer mistook as “thousand” during talks to settle a discrimination suit.