I have this nasty habbit of browsing the news.
Great idea, right?Until you come across thins like
This.
see my comments after the article and the further research I did into this.
Disabled People With Service Dogs Turned Away From Dedham Restaurant
June 27, 2011 11:56 PM
Thirteen people and six service dogs were turned away from the Dedham restaurant
Sunday night.
Thirteen people and six service dogs were turned away from the Dedham restaurant
Sunday night.
Reporting
Ken MacLeod
a group of disabled people were shocked and frustrated when a local restaurant turned
them away.
Miriam Cooper is legally blind, but clearly sees the wrong in what happened to her
and her service dog “Diamond.”
“Ignorance of the law: it’s an explanation, but it’s not an excuse,” said Cooper.
Cooper was with 12 other folks at the Bamboo Gourmet Restaurant in Dedham Sunday
night with six service dogs. The restaurant had admitted service dogs before, just
never so many at once, and a manager voiced concern about dog mayhem at the buffet
and customer allergies, even suggesting the dogs wait outside.
WBZ-TV’s Ken MacLeod reports.
“It was just very disappointing and very disillusioning,” said Cooper.
Because federal and state law require restaurants “to permit the entry and use of
service animals by disabled individuals,” Dedham police were summoned, but apparently
didn’t clarify much.
“It just seemed alternately that they weren’t interested, didn’t know, didn’t care,”
said Cooper.
Police said no officials could discuss the matter with WBZ-TV on Monday night.
According to guidelines in other departments, officers should have informed Bamboo
Gourmet Restaurant that unless they could show the dogs’ “behavior posed a direct
threat” or would cause an “undue burden,” they were in violation of the law.
“They’re supposed to help us secure our rights,” said Cooper.
Police cannot force the restaurant to seat the wannabee diners and their service
dogs. But, on the other hand, they should inform the owner that a criminal complaint
might be sought against them.
Cooper hopes the incident educates.
“And in the end, we’d like to have a nice, Asian dinner,” said Cooper.
An assistant manager at Bamboo admitted to WBZ-TV off camera that his restaurant
had made mistakes in handling the incident. He said tempers on both sides made the
situation worse, but assured us that if those patrons and dogs return, they are welcome.
The group of friends ate a late dinner somewhere else Sunday night with their dogs.
Firstly, the ADA clearly states you cannot discriminate against people with service dogs.
Secondly, said animals are trained to stay put at all times.
Thirdly, said act also states
The service animal must be permitted to accompany the individual with a disability to all areas of the facility where customers are normally allowed to go. An individual with a service animal may not be segregated from other customers.
in other words, sorry restaurant owner, you lose.
I’ve been reading comments wherein people are saying that the owner wasn’t violating the law, and that the ADA doesn’t superseed state or local law.
The ADA does superseed state and local law except when said service animal is a safety risk to others in the facility. So kindly shove that one, to.
This one’s sparked a lot of ublicity
so I can’t wait to read your comments over here.
My Service Dog Goodee & I would like to thank you for publishing this. I have mobility concerns. It is “pot luck” as to someone knowing the law. About 60% of the time we have to educate employees.
I recently talked to the Dept of Justice after a horse racetrack said I should feed the dog away from other patrons—requiring me to go down 2 flights of stairs.
The Dept of Justice rep said reasonable modifications are expected and if there are customers with food in the area then it is reasonable for Service Dogs to have access.