[nagdu] VIDEO: Blind Brockton woman accepts restaurant apology over guide-dog flap - Brockton, MA - The Enterprise

[Buddy Brannan]

http://www.enterprisenews.com/features/x1602635111/Blind-Brockton-woman-Seeing-Eye-dog-not-allowed-into-restaurant

VIDEO: Blind Brockton woman accepts restaurant apology over guide-dog flap

Last update Jun 12, 2010 @ 12:30 AM
 A woman whose Seeing Eye dog  was barred from a city restaurant said Friday the incident is an opportunity to educate people about disabilities.
   “I have been trying to find a way to educate people on what disabled people go through and this is my channel now to do that,” Claire Crowell said.
   Crowell’s encounter with an employee at the Chinatown restaurant  gained widespread attention after a story about the incident appeared in The Enterprise on Friday.
   Chinatown restaurant co-owners Joyce Hayes and Connie Lee visited Crowell at her house Friday afternoon to apologize, saying they would donate money to Seeing Eye Inc. in Morristown, N.J., where Crowell’s dog was trained.
    “I think it’s better that we work together to educate others, because a lot of people just don’t know,” said Lee.
   Lee said the employee who denied access to Crowell, Dominic So, would be suspended for one week without pay, and all of the restaurant’s employees will be retrained on disability laws.
    Federal law requires restaurants to admit guide dogs wherever customers are typically served.
Crowell, 69, said she has been questioned about her dog before, but had never been barred from a restaurant.
   “People have questioned it. When I tell them what the law is, there is no problem. This was blatant, outright, no entrance,” she said.  
   The incident occurred Wednesday when Crowell and a friend went to the restaurant on Oak Street Extension for lunch. The front-desk employee told Crowell that her dog had to wait outside.
   “I felt embarrassed and violated, you know? It’s very embarrassing,” Crowell said Thursday.
     It is relatively common for businesses to deny access to guide dogs, because they do not understand the laws, said Chris Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind in Baltimore.
    “You simply have to educate the business owner,” he said. “If a business owner actually refuses, it can lead to charges being filed.”
     State law says that whoever deprives a physically handicapped person this right may be fined $300 and is liable for civil action.
   Crowell said she plans to file an official complaint under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but does not plan to pursue legal charges.
   On Friday, Crowell said she accepted the apologies of Lee and Hayes.
    “I really feel badly for (Hayes) and her daughter. They’ve been very gracious through all of this,” Crowell said Friday. “However, this is their employee, and they should know the man represented himself to me as the owner. He didn’t say it, but he acted as though he was.”
So, the employee, also apologized to Crowell by cell phone.  
   Lee said So is a front desk worker, not a manager, and has worked at the restaurant for less than a year.
    “I really just wanted to apologize to Ms. Crowell and her family,” said Lee.
    Lee said she and Hayes were not aware of the incident until a customer e-mailed them The Enterprise story Friday morning.
“We’re going to tell all our staff that this is not acceptable and hope that this never happens again,” said Lee.
   Crowell said Friday that her husband later brought a copy of the law to the restaurant, but So did not back down.
   If Crowell had made a complaint to police, officers would have gone to the restaurant to explain the law to employees, police Lt. Tom LaFratta said.
   “If they still refuse, I would take punitive action,” LaFratta said.
Crowell said she formerly worked as a medical assistant before an autoimmune condition led to the deterioration of her eyesight over the past three decades. She became legally blind in the 1990s.

Amy Littlefield can be reached at alittlef at enterprisenews.com.




 



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Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY