unbelievable
i cannot believe this sort of thing still happens. but today, a member of a list to which i’ve belonged for years, DC Web Women, shared this awful tale. i’ll let her tell it in her own words, as mine would add little.
On Tuesday, March 16, 2010 my daughter and I were refused service and
ordered out of McDonald’s by its manager. This McDonald’s
is located at 4803 Leesburg Pike, Alexandria VA (in Fairfax County). We were
ordered out because she was accompanied by her service dog – Grizwald. I
handle him for her because she is too young and her disability is too severe
right now for her to handle him alone. My daughter’s service animal has over
500 hours of agency training as well as specific training to mitigate her
disability.I am tired of her being treated as a second class citizen. This was the
third McDonald’s that challenged her dog but the first to actually put us
out of the restaurant and refuse service. I did not call the police because
that act would have made my daughter’s anxiety and fear worse than they
already were. I did, however, contact the Fairfax County Police later that
day. The FCPD logged the incident and made a record of it. They told me if
that ever happened again to call them.On 3-16-10, We were on our way to her weekly occupational therapy
appointment. We managed to get everything ready earlier than usual. So I
decided to go to McDonald’s on our way to her appointment.We went to the drive thru window. I gave the McDonald’s employee the exact
change and she shut the window. She didn’t come back for what seemed too
long a time so I thought maybe I needed to drive to another window. I drove
around the corner but there was not another window.I thought about whether to just leave or go inside but decided to go inside
to pick up my order.I helped my daughter get her shoes and coat on and put on Grizwald’s red
cape. We went into McDonald’s. We waited in line. It didn’t take more than a
minute for one or two of the employees behind the counter to say (rudely),
“You can’t have that dog in here.” I told them I could as he was a service
dog.Next the Manager yelled at me to get the dog out. I told her he was a
service dog 2 more times. To which she replied she didn’t care ” what kind
of dog it was”, that I would have to get it out of there.I told them at least 3 times (maybe 4) that my daughter’s dog was a service
dog. I was completely ignored by all employees in my attempt to explain to
them they were violating both federal and state laws. I also said I may call
the police. I decided against that because I knew my daughter was already
upset.I then asked the manager “Are you refusing service to my
disabled child and me”? She continued to ignore me so I repeated the
question. She continued to ignore me and then told me again to leave. I
asked her to write her name down. She ignored me but I persisted in asking
for her name. After asking at least 3 times she did finally write her name
on a receipt. I couldn’t read it so I asked her name again but she continued
to ignore me. She rudely replied she wrote it on the receipt. I told her I
could not read it. Finally she wrote her name more legibly on another
receipt. She gave me a $5 bill with the receipt. I asked if she was paying
me to leave. I couldn’t understand why she gave me the $5 Dollars when I
only spent $1.69 but she continued to ignore me. I told her I didn’t want
the money but she continued to ignore me. I wasn’t pleasant to her but I
wasn’t ranting or raving either. I tried to remain calm but very direct in a
firm voice. This was a humiliating experience.My daughter’s service dog is always dressed (vested) and has service dog
tags. I also carry a certification identity card for him. He has more than
500 hours of specialized training and he is specifically task trained to
mitigate my daughter’s disability. He was placed with her in December of
2006. We were required to help the organization (that placed him) fund raise
to offset the training expenses. Our fund raising commitment to them (a
nonprofit charity agency called 4 Paws for Ability) was $10,000. My daughter
and her service dog’s story just recently (December 2009) came out in a book
called “New Lives: Stories of Rescued Dogs, Helping, Healing and Giving
Hope” by Joanne Wannan.Two years ago I requested help from Adam Ebbin to update and change the
service dog laws in VA. I specifically asked Adam to write the “three unit
teams” definition into the law. My family (including Grizwald) had a photo
taken with Gov. Kaine at the bill signing in April 2008.I usually try to teach and educate when we are challenged but there was no
teaching or educating [the manager] or any of her employees. I am very tired
of the discrimination my disabled daughter faces daily but this from
McDonald’s is inexcusable. This kind of blatant disregard for the rights of
those who are disabled needs to stop.This was a humiliating experience for us both and I am out $100 dollars for
missing my daughter’s occupational therapy appointment today unless we can
schedule a make up session and she is out her much needed occupational
therapy for this week. But that isn’t really the point. I think if
McDonald’s is going to place people in their stores who are not properly
trained they should have to pay a price. This was disgusting and despicable
behavior. My daughter has experienced enough degrading and humiliating
neglect and abuse before we adopted her and I am not going to stand for this
any more. I know this is against both state and federal laws. The night of
the incident my daughter did not sleep more than 3 hours. Interactions like
this cause her anxiety level to rise. This response can last several weeks.I called McDonald’s corporate customer service and asked who owned the
store. They would not give me that information. Someone from a “Bland
Corporation” called the same afternoon admitting this was a violation of the
law. I don’t want to speak to them. Instead I am looking for someone to
speak to them for me. I want this injustice to be made right. I want someone
else to speak to them on my little daughter’s behalf — this is just wrong.It is just unbelievable for these things to continue to happen 20 years
after the ADA in 1990.
if anyone out there is connected either with mcdonalds or the media, i would be glad to get you in touch with this person who deserves to be heard.