[nagdu] Confronting Discrimination at McDonald's

[Buddy Brannan]

Also, far be it for me to contradict the president’s wife, but:

From http://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm

• When it is not obvious what service an animal provides, only limited inquiries are allowed. Staff may ask two questions: (1) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability, and (2) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform. Staff cannot ask about the person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task. 

On Jul 12, 2014, at 10:52 PM, Cindy Ray via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Do you think that this woman was really the manager?
> 
> Cindy
> 
> On Jul 12, 2014, at 2:38 PM, Marion Gwizdala via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
>> Please feel free to disseminate and repost this message as widely as
>> appropriate. 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Dear All,
>> 
>>               Some of you were unable to access the video, so, thanks to a
>> fellow Federationist who posted it to his YouTube channel, here it is to
>> view!I have also included a brief narrative from merry that will offer a
>> little more background before the link.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Fraternaly yours,
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Marion Gwizdala, President
>> 
>> National Association of Guide Dog Users Inc.
>> 
>> National Federation of the Blind
>> 
>> (813) 626-2789
>> 
>> (888) 624-3841 (Hotline)
>> 
>> President at nagdu.org
>> 
>> http://www.nagdu.org
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> High expectations create unlimited potential for the blind!
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Before everyone views the video I will give a brief description of what
>> happened before the video was taken.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Marion and I walked into our local McDonalds- we have been in this
>> restaurant hundreds of times.  I have lived in this area off and on since
>> 1988 and have been a permanent resident since 1997.  Marion and I bought our
>> house here in 2003. This area is great for pedestrians because it has  some
>> stores and restaurants within walking distance - perfect for our lifestyle.
>> 
>> 
>> Continuing on...
>> 
>> We stood together in the lobby waiting for an available cashier for a few
>> minutes.  When we approached the counter a  young man came from the back of
>> the restaurant and stated that the manager said no dogs allowed. We shared
>> these were service dogs and the cashier stated it as well.  I then asked to
>> speak with his manager, he replied that his manager did not speak English.
>> 
>> I was actually dumbfounded by this.  We ordered our food and got our drinks
>> and sat down to eat.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> As we ate we discussed with each other that we needed to educate the manager
>> before we left and video this interaction.  We were going to ask for a
>> translater.  We video recorded  an introduction before moving towards the
>> counter area.  As we began to move toward the counter area the manager
>> approached us.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Now some thoughts before we spoke to her.  Yes our neighborhood has a great
>> deal of Hispanic speaking individuals, our local Latin American Grocery
>> store has the best and cheapest Cuban sandwiches. Back to topic:  As we
>> discussed over our meal although there is a great deal of Hispanic speaking
>> individuals in our neighborhood there is a higher percentage of English
>> speaking people.  It did not make sense to us that McDonalds would put a
>> manager in a restaurant that does not speak English well.  The video will
>> show that the manager still claims she speaks little English.  After the
>> recording, our cashier was in the lobby taking a break and I asked her if
>> the manager spoke English she stated she did.  Unfortunately, as the video
>> will demonstrate, the manager took no responsibility for her employees
>> actions and basically threw them under the bus.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> We have worked in the past with this McDonalds to do local events and have
>> contacted a member of upper management (Director of Marketing) for the
>> Corporation.  I am sure we will hear from him on Monday.  He can view the
>> video as well.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I was a restaurant manager in 1984 and if something liked this occurred in
>> my store, I would have been proactive! I would have been at my customer's
>> table while they were eating, took their receipt, reimbursed them their
>> money, gave them tickets for free meals on their next visit,and  I would
>> have told them my employees were wrong in their behavior and I would train
>> them appropriately.  This manager did none of these things and only appeared
>> to have her employees do her dirty work and then be deceitful in the area of
>> communicating with us.  Apologies are not well received when they don't
>> appear genuine! Now for the video!
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> http://youtu.be/kePK2vedOog
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Merry Schoch, Vice President
>> 
>> Florida Association of Guide dog Users
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> nagdu mailing list
>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/cindyray%40gmail.com
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/buddy%40brannan.name