[nagdu] Guide Dog Access Challenge in Indianna

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Ah.  It's the blind person's fault!  Well, along with the foreigner.  How is
an innocent, well-meaning business owner to survive the cruelty of peole
coming into his restaurant trying not to be served like that?  Will the
conspiracy never end?  /evil grin/

Actually, it does seem to be a pretty good article and fairly well balanced.
I just found the business owner's statement to be, um, interesting.

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Marion Gwizdala
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 1:59 AM
To: NAGDU List; blindtlk at nfbnet.org; NFB Chapter presidents
Subject: [nagdu] Guide Dog Access Challenge in Indianna

Dear All,
    I want to thank National Association of Guide Dog Users (NAGDU) member
Susan Jones and NFB of Indianna President Ron Brown for their advocacy on
this issue. This story helps to underscore why we need to have an affiliate
NAGDU division in each state! Though Indianna has a state statute
criminalizing discrimination based upon disability, the local law
enforcement told Ms. Kirby that "this is not a police matter". 
    If you would like information about how to organize an affiliate NAGDU
division, please feel free to get in touch with me. My contact information
is below my signature.

Fraternally yours,
Marion Gwizdala, President
National Association of Guide Dog Users
National Federation of the Blind
813-598-7161
President at NFB-NAGDU.ORG
HTTP://NFB-NAGDU.ORG

Misunderstanding raises awareness: Woman with service dog turned away from
Terre Haute restaurant

Howard Greninger and Arthur Foulkes The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE - Hannah Kirby wanted to enjoy a belated celebration of the
birthday of a good friend, so she selected a Terre Haute restaurant she had
heard
has good food and which she had never visited.

As it turns out, she never made it past the counter of the Sunrise Family
Restaurant near Fifth Street and Margaret Avenue on Saturday.

Kirby is blind and uses a guide dog to help her get around.

"They refused to let us in with Lanie," Kirby said of her nearly 4-year-old
golden retriever guide dog. "She is my eyes. She is what gets me around and
through the stores. We go everywhere together.

"They would not let us in the restaurant," Kirby said Monday. "We could only
go in if we left the dog outside. I told him [the restaurant worker], 'I
have
my leader dog identification card if you need to see it,' but he said, 'No,
you cannot come in.'"

Kirby also said that a customer at the checkout counter agreed she should be
allowed to enter the restaurant.

Kirby's friend, Judy Sweeney, has worked for the past 40 years as an
orientation mobility instructor, teaching skills for independent travel to
visually
impaired people.

"I explained that it was a service dog and that federal law had to allow it.
He said no, we have to leave the dog outside. He said that the customers
would
not like it and that we could not come in," Sweeney said.

Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, 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 law requires businesses to
allow
people with disabilities to bring service animals onto business premises in
areas where customers are generally allowed, according to the U.S.
Department
of Justice.

Pamela Kieft, co-owner of the Sunrise Family Restaurant, said the
family-style restaurant welcomes service animals. "Service dogs are allowed,
no problem,"
Kieft said. "If there was a misunderstanding, I feel terrible about that."

According to Kieft, the manager on duty - who "comes from another culture"
and speaks with an accent - could not tell that Lanie was a service dog and
told
the women that the restaurant does not allow pets. Kirby noted that the
restaurant worker "sounded foreign."

To him, "It looked like two ladies with a pet," Kieft said. When told the
dog was a service animal, the manager wanted to verify this by asking what
sort
of service it provided, she said. The restaurant, which employs about 20
people, trains its employees to welcome service animals; however, it's
important
to ensure the animals really are service animals, Kieft said.

"People try to bring pets in here all the time," she said. "We definitely do
not allow pets."

Sweeney, meanwhile, said she "kept asking for [the employee's] name or name
of the owner or the manager and was refused the information. I just got a
card
for the restaurant. I got a little upset. I offered to put a blindfold on
him and let him experience what it is to be blind."

The two then left the restaurant to go to another place for lunch.

"Hannah was so embarrassed," Sweeney said. "When we got out to the car, she
said, 'You know, I feel like I have leprosy,''' Sweeney said.

"I felt angry," Sweeney added. "Working with visually impaired, life is not
easy for them. Hannah has gone to a lot of effort, she lives alone and
maintains
her apartment, then to be humiliated like that. I see her as someone
striving to be independent, and she was put down for it."

"The manager said they were welcome to come in, but he needed to make sure
clearly it was a service dog," restaurant co-owner Kieft said Monday when
asked
about the situation. Kieft was not present when the incident happened, but
was subsequently informed by the manager.  "The lady got very upset," Kieft
said she was told.

Kirby started losing her eyesight when she was 9 years old and now only has
light perception. "I can tell when it is light or dark," she said.

Lanie was trained through the Leader Dogs for the Blind program in Rochester
Hills, Mich., where Kirby trained with the dog for a month before assuming
ownership.

Kirby said being denied access to a restaurant happened once before in Terre
Haute, about two years ago when she went to a chain restaurant. She
contacted
that restaurant's corporate headquarters, which "apologized all over
themselves and said they would train their people to not ever do that again.

"That is the whole point of this. I am not trying to be mean. It is
embarrassing and you feel dirty when they won't let you in. You can see
Lanie is clean
and is taken care of," Kirby said of her guide dog. "I just want to make
sure it doesn't happen to someone else because there are several guide dogs
in
this town and it is the law."

But Kieft said the restaurant manager would never wish to turn away anyone
with a service animal and worries about potential bad publicity.

"From the bottom of my heart, if this woman was hurt by something that was a
misunderstanding, I feel so terrible about that," Kieft said. "She had to
have
clearly misunderstood or she was clearly so mad she did not want to have
service.

"This is not me. This is not us," Kieft said. "Something like this could
really hurt a small business like ours," she said.

After the incident, Kirby contacted the National Federation for the Blind.
Kirby is secretary for the Terre Haute chapter, which has about 10 members,
she
said. The federation suggested she make a police report. Kirby said she
contacted police, who instructed her to contact the Better Business Bureau
or the
media.

Sweeney on Monday called Mayor Duke Bennett's office, which put her in
contact with the city's Human Relations Commission. Sweeney said she will
provide
Kirby with the information "and let her decide what she wants to do."

Kirby said she's had no other recent problems at other Terre Haute
restaurants or retailers such as Walmart, where she is given individual
assistance while
shopping.

Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or
howard.greninger at tribstar.com

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or
arthur.foulkes at tribstar.com.

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