[nagdu] Access problems in San Diego

Wed Jan 12 20:53:26 UTC 2011

Hi, Lyn,

Speaking from my personal experience, if the local police will not put in an 
appearance to let the business owner know that they are required under the 
ADA to allow a person with a disability access to their business accompanied 
by their service animal, then you have several options for getting the 
problem solved:

You can file a complaint with the US Department of Justice which is charged 
with implementing this part of the ADA.  Or, you can file a complaint with 
your state's Human Rights Division which will eventually hold a hearing to 
establish the facts of the case and then issue a ruling as to whether 
discrimination did occur, and then help mediate some remedy.  Both of these 
methods take a lot of time to get results.  And either organization may 
decide that your little complaint will not deliver enough bang for the buck, 
so to speak, and that they cannot spend their very limited resources on such 
a little case.

So you may decide to take more direct and personal action:  that is, take a 
couple of guide dog user friends with you for moral support and go to the 
business and enter the business and proceed as usual, with the expectation 
of receiving the same polite and considerate service as any other members of 
the public.  If the business owner shouts "No dogs!", attempt to politely 
inform him/her of your rights under the ADA (if he/she is able to listen and 
able to understand.)  If the business owner is not physically pushing you 
out the door or blocking your passage into the store, then I would continue 
to enter and see if the business owner will serve you despite their 
protestations about the dog(s).  This tactic has worked for me in some 
cases--I just pretend I didn't understand what they are saying about the 
dog, like I can't understand their attempt at speaking English, or maybe my 
disability includes deafness, or maybe I have a cognitive impairment or 
something--but I just keep walking and keep smiling, and sometimes they just 
decide that it is easier to serve me and get it over with rather than 
continuing to cause a scene by resisting.

If you get in and they ignore you or refuse to serve you, then you can call 
the police and see if the mere appearance of the police, or the threat of 
their appearance, will be enough to cause the business owner to give in.  If 
the business is one which has any traffic at all, then the sight of several 
citizens with disabilities and their service animals standing in the 
entrance and the business owner trying to refuse them service will surely be 
bad for business and cause the business owner to think twice about 
persisting.  If the police do arrive and refuse to enforce the law, and I'm 
sure that California has State laws which parallel the provisions of the 
ADA, then you can choose to leave peacefully, or you can choose to stay.  If 
you choose not to leave the business, perhaps the police will arrest you and 
your friends for disturbing the peace or something, which will give you a 
date in court and a platform for gaining the attention of the local press 
and the justice system.

If you're up for a good fight, you could inform the local TV/media press of 
the denial of access, and you could arrange to have press coverage of 
another attempt by you and your friends to gain entry and service at the 
business.  Usually, once the situation is exposed to the light of public 
scrutiny, the business owner "sees the light" pretty quickly.  They usually 
try to pass it off as a misunderstanding and swear that they never meant to 
deny service to a person with a disability, but in any case, the situation 
does get resolved, and sometimes they bend over backward to try to make up 
for their mistaken policy.

Oh, one other thing, if the business is one which prepares/serves food, and 
they are using this as the excuse for refusing you entry with the dog, 
saying that the Health Department won't allow dogs, you can call the County 
Health Inspector's office and ask them to inform the business owner that no 
health regulation requires the exclusion of persons with disabilities 
accompanied by service animals from stores or restaurants where food is 
displayed/prepared/served.  In fact, the exception for service animals is 
written into the health codes.

Anyway, good luck, and I hope you can muster the good old activist spirit of 
the 1960's civil rights era (and of the NFB), and get your civil rights 
recognized and enforced!

Best,
Ann

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lyn Gwizdak" <linda.gwizdak at cox.net>
To: "NFBnet NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 12:49 PM
Subject: [nagdu] Access problems in San Diego

> Marion,
> Below is a response my friend, Lisa, got from the police here when she 
> asked them what recourse we had in response to an access denial in a 
> business here.
>
> She emailed the officer on my behalf after I told her about an incident of 
> denial of access in this guy's business because of my guide dog. the guy 
> appeared to be Arab by his accent and he didn't care if he was violating 
> the law - NO DOG.  I called my City Councilmember.  they gave me the 
> number for San Diego Disability coordinator's office.  they said they only 
> intervene if the access denial happened in a City owned building or 
> office.  they told me to go to the State AG office.  They were no help 
> either - no real person to talk to and no way to get one.  I called the 
> State CCB office and got someone from their guide dog grooup.  they told 
> me to talk to our police department.  And this below is their response to 
> the incident.
>
> "the situation you described is not criminal and that is what the Police 
> Department deals with, Criminal matters.  What your friend is experiencing 
> is a Civil matter.  I attached some basic laws that your friend with the 
> Guide Dog should know or have been told.  These are very common laws that 
> even businesses should be aware of.  There is a number at the bottom you 
> can call for more help.  Good luck!
>
>
> Luis A. Roman
> "Louie"
> Community Liaison Officer (820s) & Facilities
> Mid-City Division, San Diego Police Dept.
> 4310 Landis Street, MS-785
> San Diego, CA. 92105
> Desk: (619) 516-3038
> Fax:   (619) 516-3058
> lroman at pd.sandiego.gov "
>
>
>
> This officer then attached a copy of a "Question and Answer" thing from 
> the ADA.
>
>
>
> My question is how to enforce the law here????  The incident occured in 
> early December while I was downtown before an appointment.  The store 
> owner now thinks it's OK to keep service dogs out and that it is OK to do 
> as he pleases in regards to obeying the laws of this country.
>
>
>
> Any California listers who read this - what do you recommend I do?
>
>
>
> Lyn and Landon
>
> 619-405-5554
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