[Wasagdu] [seeing-eye] Seeing Eye graduate - Blind Woman & guide dog unwelcomeat Guilderland restaurant despite federal law

Thu Mar 24 03:21:47 UTC 2016

Wow, this sounds like the bad old days.  I remember reading about 
accounts of Morris Frank and others in the early days who had to 
fight to get states to pass laws.  There is a rumor that there's 
a place here in Spokane that denies service dogs entrance, saying 
that they can "enjoy their coffee, etc.  outside".  I have not 
been able to substantiate this rumor, nor to officially find out 
the name of this coffee shop.  If I find this to be true, I will 
be paying them a visit and I'll let you know what happens.    
Debby and Nova

 ---- Original Message ------
From: "Ginger Kutsch" <Ginger at ky2d.com
Subject: [seeing-eye] Seeing Eye graduate - Blind Woman & guide 
dog unwelcomeat Guilderland restaurant despite federal law
Date sent: Mon, 21 Mar 2016 09:33:49 -0400

Blind woman and guide dog unwelcome at Guilderland restaurant 
despite
federal law

Blind woman says she was refused table at Hana steak house due to 
service
animal

By Steve Barnes

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Albany Times Union

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Blind-woman-and-guide-dog
-unwelcome-
at-6924044.php

Guilderland, NY --  A Latham woman who is blind said she was 
refused a table
at Hana Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar in Guilderland because 
she had
her guide dog, Foster, with her.

"The manager kept saying, 'No dogs,' " said Mary Beth Metzger, 
who tried to
dine at Hana with her friend Phyllis Mullaney on Jan.  28.  It 
was the first
visit for either.  They chose Hana, they said, because they were 
driving past
at lunchtime and decided they were in the mood for sushi.

"The manager said, 'No dogs,' so many times, and he seated other 
people
while basically ignoring us.  It was so disrespectful," said 
Mullaney, who
estimated she has dined without problem with Metzger and her 
guide dog
dozens of times.

Lui Cheng, who was the person who refused to seat the women, said 
Friday he
believes patrons with service dogs should be served only in 
separate rooms,
away from other customers.

According to Metzger and Mullaney, they explained to Cheng that 
federal law
requires restaurants and other businesses to allow legitimate 
service
animals such as guide dogs into their facilities and to serve the 
owners the
same as other customers.

Three lawyers who happened to be behind them at the hostess stand 
echoed
their explanation of the law.

"It was so wrong for them to deny her a seat," said Cynthia 
LaFave, a
Guilderland attorney who was at Hana with her law partners, Paul 
Wein and
Jason Frament.  She said the three "argued for a good deal of 
time" with
Cheng, to no avail.

"The manager was singularly unmoved," said Metzger, adding that 
in decades
of living in the Capital Region she has never been refused 
restaurant
service because of the presence of her guide dog.  Foster, almost 
3 years
old, is her fifth guide dog.

"He kept saying Foster would scare the other customers," Metzger 
said.
"Foster wasn't doing anything - he was just standing there like a 
stuffed
animal."

Metzger said that when the manager continued to refuse to seat 
them, she
called Guilderland police.  She said she has threatened to phone 
police for
dog-related refusal of service "maybe two or three times" since 
getting her
first guide dog, in 1981, but had never previously made the call.

A report filed by the responding officers says Cheng denied 
refusing Metzger
a table and said he was willing to seat her in a private room, 
away from
other customers.

Metzger and Mullaney said the offer of a table in a separate room 
came only
after police intervened.

Cheng, interviewed at Hana on Friday afternoon, confirmed that he 
refused to
seat Metzger in the main dining area.  He said it is the 
restaurant's policy
to segregate patrons with service animals in a separate room - 
"to be away
from other customers," he said.

The Americans with Disabilities Act "requires ...  businesses to 
allow people
with disabilities to bring their service animals onto business 
premises in
whatever areas customers are generally allowed," according to a 
federal
publication about the ADA.

"I wanted to sit where everyone else was sitting, and we have the 
right to.
The law is very clear," said Metzger, who is a retired personnel 
director
for a state agency.

In the weeks that followed, Metzger said, she contacted a 
disability-rights
attorney, who has been in touch with Hana management.  The 
restaurant
subsequently offered her a $200 gift card.  She said she asked 
for a sign to
be placed at the entrance saying that service animals are 
welcome, and she
requested that the restaurant conduct training for its staffers 
on the law
regarding service animals.

"I don't care about a gift card," said Metzger.  "It's the 
principle.  They've
really dragged their feet on the two things I asked for." The 
attorney
acting on Metzger's behalf confirmed her account to the Times 
Union but
requested not to be identified because the matter is ongoing.

Metzger said her attorney provided a sign about service animals 
to Hana.  As
of Friday, there was no such sign visible at the restaurant.  
Metzger said
she offered to conduct staff training herself, for free, or to 
provided
another suitable trainer but was rebuffed.

She said she was at first reluctant to contact the Times Union 
about the
matter, but, "It's been almost two months.  This seems so simple, 
and it's
absolutely clear: They were wrong.  A quick apology, a sign, a 
training
session for the staff, and it would have all been taken care of 
quietly.
Instead all this time goes by and other blind people with their 
dogs could
still be being turned away at the door.  That's just not right."

--
The Seeing Eye
Independence with Dignity since 1929

If you need to contact one of the list owners for
 questions or assistance, please use the following email address: 
seeing-eye+owner at googlegroups.com.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the 
Google Groups "Seeing Eye Discussions" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, 
send an email to seeing-eye+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to seeing-eye at googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit 
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/seeing-eye/009301d18376%244d97d
230%24e8c77690%24%40ky2d.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.