[nagdu] Restaurant acknowledges 'mistake' in ejecting guide dog

[PICKRELL, REBECCA M (TASC)]

Exactly Steve!

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Steven Johnson
Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2011 1:31 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Restaurant acknowledges 'mistake' in ejecting guide dog

And that, my friends is the difference between the NFB and ACB.  Stand up
for your members and push the letter of the law.  It is 21 years after the
passage of the ADA, and if you don't get it by now, we will make you get it.
No excuses.  And, get a better grip on your service dog terminology.
On a related note, a friend of mine faced a similar situation with a
recreational lodge here in WI.  The owners said that after they learned the
law, it wasn't a problem.  However, their problem now is the lawsuit they
are facing as my friend connected with myself as the President of WAGDU, and
this is the best thing they could have done.  Sorry, I have no sympathy for
you business owners anymore, and it is time to understand the law.
Furthermore, if you read your freaking state restaurant codes, there is
generally if not always, an exemption for service dogs.  Like Ricky Ricardo
says...you got some splainin to do, and this is why we need to criminalize
such acts.  
Steve


-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Ginger Kutsch
Sent: Friday, July 08, 2011 8:15 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: [nagdu] Restaurant acknowledges 'mistake' in ejecting guide dog

Restaurant acknowledges 'mistake' in ejecting guide dog

Updated: Jul 07, 2011 10:39 PM EDT 

By David MacAnally - 

http://www.wthr.com/story/15044969/restaurant-acknowledges-mistake-in-ejecti
ng-guide-dog

Indiana - Rick Ellinger is blind and uses a guide dog - a 5-year-old black
Lab named Jarvis.

 

On the 4th of July, he took his family to a south side restaurant for
dinner.  Jarvis led the way.

 

But he says the restaurant manager wouldn't seat the family unless Rick took
Jarvis to the car.  Ellinger says he tried to explain the state and federal
law which guarantees assistance dog access to any place the public is
invited.

 

When the manager told him he might seat the family in the corner, "away from
the food and everything", Ellinger said no.  "I want to sit near the food so
my wife can get my food for me," said Ellinger.

 

The Ellingers left the restaurant.  He says he considered filing a formal
complaint against the business, then decided he just wants to spread the
news about the law.

 

Don and Gerry Koors with the American Council of the Blind are not surprised
what happened to Ellinger.  According to Don Koors, "as long as the dog is
under control they're allowed to be in any public place."

 

Gerry Koors says the assistance animals are not a nuisance.  "The dogs
generally are well under control.  They're well trained."

 

Eyewitness News went back to the restaurant with the Ellingers this week.
Manager Joe Dong says he didn't know what the law required.  Dong said he
assumed state health laws barred all animals from areas where food is
served.

 

He said he now understands the law and welcomed the Ellingers - and Jarvis -
to sit anywhere they wished.

 

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