[nagdu] access denied

[Sean Moore]

my first access issue 

On 2/21/09 at about 12:30PM 

At the Great Wall Buffet restaurant in Bainbridge, Georgia on the corner of water street. A guide dog user was denied access with said guide dog. 

A officer was called to the restaurant, the guide dog user was told after the officer had spoken with the owner of the restaurant since it was a privatly owned business that the guide dog was not allowed in.

Under the Federal law: Americans with Disabilities Act and Georgia State Law 

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), privately owned businesses that serve the public, such as restaurants, hotels, retail stores, taxicabs, theaters, concert halls, and sports facilities, are prohibited from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. The ADA requires these businesses to allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals onto business premises in whatever areas customers are generally allowed.



Georgia State Law 

Georgia Laws of 1991, Title 30, Chapter 4, Sections 30-4-1 through 30-4-3

Georgia statutory law guarantees a blind person the legal right to be accompanied by a specially trained dog guide in all public accommodations.

Public accommodations include hotels, restaurants, stores, places of resort or amusement, and any other place to which the general public is invited. (Sect. 30-4-1)

Violation: Any person, firm, corporation or agent thereof who denies or interferes with the above enumerated rights is guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine not to exceed $100, or by imprisonment for not more than 10 days, or both. (Sect. 30-4-3)