[nagdu] Hernando woman offended after restaurant service dog dispute

[Buddy Brannan]

Oops. 

They can ask if it’s a service dog and what tasks has it been trained to perform, but not the manner of the training nor the nature of the disability. 

Still…On the table? Or not on the table? 

I was already kind of offended at the headline, but it might actually be accurate….

> On Aug 14, 2014, at 7:58 PM, Ginger Kutsch via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hernando woman offended after restaurant service dog dispute 
> 
> WFLA News Channel 8
> 
> Posted: Aug 12, 2014 
> 
> By Candace McCowan - 
> 
> Melanie Lisky said everything was going fine while out to dinner with two
> friends in July at the Chili's in Spring Hill at Commercial Way and U.S. 19.
> 
> 
> 
> "She comes over and she says to me, 'I just have to let you know that the
> dog has to be outside or under the table because you are causing a commotion
> in the restaurant," said Lisky about what a manager at the Chili's told her.
> 
> 
> 
> "I said I can't put her under the table she has to be within a vicinity of
> me. I said well I'll just leave. I didn't want to fight. I just put my hand
> up and said that's okay, I'll just leave," said Lisky
> 
> 
> 
> Lisky and Chili's tell 8 On Your Side that an upset customer in the
> restaurant claimed Lisky's service dog was on the table.
> 
> 
> 
> However Chili's said they never asked Lisky to leave.
> 
> 
> 
> The manager of the restaurant did send Lisky an apology letter along with
> gift certificates but Lisky, who says her dog was not on the table, told 8
> On Your Side the damage was already done.
> 
> 
> 
> "I go to Chili's, this big organization that should be up on the ADA and
> they're the people who come over there and make me feel like I'm 'this big.'
> It just hurt," said Lisky.
> 
> 
> 
> A representative from Chili's told 8 On Your Side the apology letter was
> their standard letter that they sent to Lisky to apologize for the upset
> customer.
> 
> 
> 
> "Somebody who goes into a business even if they have a legitimate service
> dog and the dog isn't under control, the business has a right to ask them to
> leave," said Marion Gwizdala, who works for the National Association of
> Guide Dog Users.
> 
> 
> 
> Gwizdala, who uses a guide dog himself, said he's had people interfere with
> his access, but that service dog users and businesses need to know what the
> ADA allows when it comes to service animals.
> 
> 
> 
> Click here for more information on guidelines.
> 
> 
> 
> "No documentation has to be required as a condition of access. An entity has
> a right to ask what task the animal can perform and how the animal was
> trained," said Gwizdala.
> 
> 
> 
> Lisky depends on her Pomeranian service dog after she suffered a traumatic
> brain injury in an accident.
> 
> 
> 
> "Basically she is letting me know I need to take myself out of the
> environment because visual stimulation over does my brain," said Lisky.
> 
> 
> 
> Lisky wants not just restaurants but other diners to know that she has
> rights.
> 
> 
> 
> "I am just not going to get people pushing me around and putting me down,
> I'm tired of it," said Lisky.
> 
> 
> 
> Source:
> http://www.wfla.com/story/26265377/hernando-woman-offended-after-restaurant-
> service-dog-dispute
> 
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