[nagdu] Woman sues for 10M for being denied subway rides with dog

[craig.borne at dot.gov]

Woman sues for 10M for being denied subway rides with dog

BY JOHN MARZULLI 

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER 

 

Sunday, January 4th 2009, 4:54 AM 

 

Estelle Stamm rides No. 5 train with her giant dog, Wargas. The
Manhattan woman has been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder. 

DeCrescenzo for News 

 

Estelle Stamm rides No. 5 train with her giant dog, Wargas. The
Manhattan woman has been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder.

 

A woman who claims her 120-pound dog is protection from childhood
memories of sex abuse is in a big-bucks battle with 

NYC Transit

 over whether the animal can ride the rails.

 

Estelle Stamm

, 65, won $10,000 from the city after two cops gave her a ticket for
bringing the pony-sized dog into a subway station.

 

Now she's going for $10 million in a federal suit that argues Wargas,
her service dog, is protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

 

"These sons of bitches don't like to be told what to do," Stamm told the
Daily News as she waited for a federal judge to decide whether the suit
should

be tossed.

 

"I don't have a choice. I need my dog. And they [NYC Transit] don't have
a choice, either. They have to follow the law."

 

Transit lawyers have recently taken the position that Stamm - who has
been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder and has partial
hearing loss - is

not really disabled.

 

Their legal papers draw on 8,000 pages of Stamm's Internet postings, in
which she suggests Wargas' breed - livestock guardian dog - is
dangerous.

 

"Livestock guard dogs in the subways is a wonderful sight to behold. The
seas of people part before us," the former ad agency manager boasted in
a 1998

posting.

 

In other postings, Stamm discussed dog-on-dog attacks involving her
previous service dog, Mishka, a Caucasian Ovcharka that died of cancer
last month.

 

She described livestock dogs as genetically wired with "tremendous
killing power" and said Mishka could be aggressive toward elderly cancer
patients because

"she can smell death, and she doesn't want it near her."

 

Stamm, who lives near Union Square, sued the city in federal court in
2007 and got a $10,000 settlement in July. Her suit against NYC Transit
has been kicking

around since 2004.

 

It contends her civil rights were violated by transit workers who tried
to toss her and the dogs from public transportation.

 

In 2000, a bus driver shut down on First Ave. and told the other
passengers they had Stamm to thank for the delay, she alleges.

 

The announcement prompted an irate passenger to bark at her, "If I'm
late for work, I'll find you and kill your ... ass!" The driver was
later disciplined.

 

Stamm said her stress disorder causes extreme fear of danger, severe
depression and confusion. The dog keeps her "in the present," warns her
of sirens and

horns, and provides a large, furry barrier in crowded places, she said.

 

She carries an ID card for the dog issued by NYC Transit and is required
only to inform employees what kind of service he provides.

 

Being questioned about her disability - which she says is prohibited by
transit regulations - has triggered stress reactions, her complaint
says.

 

In addition to money damages, Stamm is seeking employee retraining.

 

"This is an easy fix, so their hostility mystifies me," Stamm said.
"Wargas is not in the slightest bit dangerous. This is such B.S. It's
meant to intimidate

me."

 

NYC Transit's position is that Stamm's suit has no merit because she has
been inconvenienced only a handful of times and was never denied access
to a bus

or subway.

 

Craig Borne, Esq.

Equal Opportunity Specialist

Disability Program Manager

 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

Office of Civil Rights

1200 New Jersey Avenue, Southeast  

Suite W43-321 

Washington, DC 20590

 

Office : (202) 493-0627

Fax: (202) 493-2990 

Email: craig.borne at dot.gov <mailto:craig.borne at dot.gov> 

 

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