must city police enforce anti discrimination federal law?

[davidchapman]

I am in XXX Oregon. The police dept in ABC Oregon says on their website that " A certified Police Officer performs law enforcement and crime prevention work including discovery, investigation, report preparation and patrol to enforce federal, state and local laws. " So why dont they enforce discrimination by a business against a person with a service animal in the store when the business says they cannot be in the store, KNOWING it to be a service animal? The [name of restaurant deleted] on [name of street removed] in XXX had me banned because I had my service animal in the store and feeding her on a small blanket on the floor. She said I couldnt feed her in the store, yet I tried to show her what the ADA said (she refused to look at it):
"Q9. Who is responsible for the care and supervision of a service animal?
A. The handler is responsible for caring for and supervising the service animal, which includes toileting, feeding, and grooming and veterinary care. Covered entities are not obligated to supervise or otherwise care for a service animal."

THE HANDLER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR...FEEDING..." It says this about service animals IN businesses ("covered entities"). She called the police and the city officer enforced the no trespass order.

If it says in the city police description that they HAVE to enforce federal law as well as state law, how can he then enforce a discriminatory ban against me, a disabled person?

 

[xylene]

I suggest you contact corporate [name of restaurant removed] by cetified mail return receipt in regards to your issue as an excellent first step.

I must ask for clarity, becuae it comes up so often - is your dog a bona fide support animal? Please outline the specific training and how it benefits your disability. Many people mistakenly believe service animals are emotional support animals (which are NOT covered by ADA) which brings about conflict like you have experienced. And the reverse is true as well.

 

[quincy]

I agree with xylene that contacting the restaurant's Corporate Offices is the next step to take if you have not had any success resolving the issue with the franchise.

What recourse you have can hinge on your animal and his credentials.

Until the matter is resolved, you should avoid publicly mentioning the specific restaurant you are having problems with. Personal identifying information should not be published on a public forum.

 

[Taxing Matters]

If it says in the city police description that they HAVE to enforce federal law as well as state law, how can he then enforce a discriminatory ban against me, a disabled person?

The ADA is not a criminal statute. The police cannot make arrests for violations of the ADA. Nor is it the job of the police to determine whether a business is properly following the ADA. They are not trained to determine if the animal in question is truly a service animal under the ADA or whether the business is violating the ADA in any way.

Under the ADA there are two ways to enforce the service animal provisions. First, you may file a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department, which is the federal agency that the law tasks with enforcing the ADA provisions that apply to places of public accommodations. Second, the law provides you the remedy of suing the business in court for an injunction to force it to comply with the ADA.

The unfortunate reality is that too many pet owners try to get their pets into businesses by claiming they are service animals which then leads businesses to be skeptical of claims that an animal is a service animal. That sets up conflicts like the one you experienced. Also, a lot of business owners, and some disabled persons too, do not really understand exactly what the law says businesses must do to accommodate service animals. That also leads to misunderstandings in these situations. But these are civil problems and the cops are not going to try sorting that out.

The police will, however, grant trespass bans when requested because that is part of their job. And a business can ban you from the store, even if you are disabled, so long as the reason for the ban is not illegal discrimination.

 

[NeilTheCop]

It seems that you are entitled to take a service animal, which can only be either a dog or a miniature horse into a business. I cannot see that it entitles you to feed or groom the animal while inside the business.
https://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm

 

[davidchapman]

I suggest you contact corporate [name of restaurant removed] by certified mail return receipt in regards to your issue as an excellent first step.

I must ask for clarity, becuae it comes up so often - is your dog a bona fide support animal? Please outline the specific training and how it benefits your disability. Many people mistakenly believe service animals are emotional support animals (which are NOT covered by ADA) which brings about conflict like you have experienced. And the reverse is true as well.

Hello and thank you for your reply. No, my animal is NOT a "support animal", it is a service animal. I have Bipolar disorder and PTSD and she qualities as a "psychiatric service animal" to assist me with anxiety and depression. Per the ADA, there is no training requirements, I trained her myself. Nor are an certifications or other accouterments required by law.I do have letters from my psychiatrist and occupational therapist and did register her with usa service dog registration online. There is no question she is a legal service animal. An emotional support animal is NOT covered by the ADA.

I agree with xylene that contacting the restaurant's Corporate Offices is the next step to take if you have not had any success resolving the issue with the franchise.

What recourse you have can hinge on your animal and his credentials.

Until the matter is resolved, you should avoid publicly mentioning the specific restaurant you are having problems with. Personal identifying information should not be published on a public forum.

as I told the other guy, she is a service animal, there is no question there. nor is that the question I am asking... lets ASSUME there is no issues, ok? Now, I have also contacted corporate who have routed me back to the owner, who has STILL not contacted me in three days.

 

[davidchapman]

The ADA is not a criminal statute. The police cannot make arrests for violations of the ADA. Nor is it the job of the police to determine whether a business is properly following the ADA. They are not trained to determine if the animal in question is truly a service animal under the ADA or whether the business is violating the ADA in any way.

Under the ADA there are two ways to enforce the service animal provisions. First, you may file a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department, which is the federal agency that the law tasks with enforcing the ADA provisions that apply to places of public accommodations. Second, the law provides you the remedy of suing the business in court for an injunction to force it to comply with the ADA.

The unfortunate reality is that too many pet owners try to get their pets into businesses by claiming they are service animals which then leads businesses to be skeptical of claims that an animal is a service animal. That sets up conflicts like the one you experienced. Also, a lot of business owners, and some disabled persons too, do not really understand exactly what the law says businesses must do to accommodate service animals. That also leads to misunderstandings in these situations. But these are civil problems and the cops are not going to try sorting that out.

The police will, however, grant trespass bans when requested because that is part of their job. And a business can ban you from the store, even if you are disabled, so long as the reason for the ban is not illegal discrimination.

so, to be clear... MY actions are criminal , theirs are civil? Police cant enforce federal CIVIL laws? And if the reason IS illegal discrimiantion? Which utimately is my question....

 

[davidchapman]

so, to be clear... MY actions are criminal , theirs are civil? Police cant enforce federal CIVIL laws? And if the reason IS illegal discrimiantion? Which utimately is my question....

there IS a criminal provision for harassing a disabled person,... would this NOT constitute said criminal act of harassment?

 

[quincy]

Hello and thank you for your reply. No, my animal is NOT a "support animal", it is a service animal. I have Bipolar disorder and PTSD and she qualities as a "psychiatric service animal" to assist me with anxiety and depression. Per the ADA, there is no training requirements, I trained her myself. Nor are an certifications or other accouterments required by law.I do have letters from my psychiatrist and occupational therapist and did register her with usa service dog registration online. There is no question she is a legal service animal. An emotional support animal is NOT covered by the ADA.

as I told the other guy, she is a service animal, there is no question there. nor is that the question I am asking... lets ASSUME there is no issues, ok? Now, I have also contacted corporate who have routed me back to the owner, who has STILL not contacted me in three days.

If the franchise owner is unresponsive to your written request for a satisfactory resolution, you should contact a civil rights attorney in your area for a personal review of the facts.

Your contact with the franchise owner needs to be by formal letter sent by mail (no emails, no texts, no phone calls). Send the letter certified mail, return receipt requested.

Your letter should be professional. No accusations or threats. You probably would benefit from having an attorney draft the letter for you.

Good luck.

 

[LdiJ]

there IS a criminal provision for harassing a disabled person,... would this NOT constitute said criminal act of harassment?

This is some general advice.

I used to own a restaurant. I had several regular customers who were blind or physically disabled and would come in with their service animals. I had no problem with this and would have severely disciplined any employee that gave those customers any grief.

Those customers however did not place blankets down for the service animals, did not feed the service animals while there and the service animals were clearly "on alert" the entire time that they were there. They were clearly professionally trained and were wearing service vests.

You are insisting that a business must treat your self trained service animal the same way as a professionally trained animal and you feel that you have a right to place a blanket down for the animal and feed the animal while in the establishment. I think that is where you are perhaps losing credibility in the community and perhaps why the police were not more sympathetic to your situation and seemed to side with the management of the establishment.

It might behoove you to seek out some expert assistance in both the training and the use of service animals in public places. It may be that some additional training plus modifications of your behavior would make things work better for you.

 

[xylene]

Hello and thank you for your reply. No, my animal is NOT a "support animal", it is a service animal. I have Bipolar disorder and PTSD and she qualities as a "psychiatric service animal" to assist me with anxiety and depression. Per the ADA, there is no training requirements, I trained her myself. Nor are an certifications or other accouterments required by law.I do have letters from my psychiatrist and occupational therapist and did register her with usa service dog registration online. There is no question she is a legal service animal. An emotional suppo

Well, the store management and the police are mistaking your dig as an emotional support animal.

It would behoove you to carry the dog's serine training certification and the doctor recommendation. That would go a lot futher to convince skeptical people who might not understand your rights.

You are highly reactive about, which means you should consider how you seem when asserting your rights. you might be escalating things you are trying to defuse

 

[CdwJava]

there IS a criminal provision for harassing a disabled person,... would this NOT constitute said criminal act of harassment?

The local police would likely not have a clue as to what any criminal code section for this might be under the ADA, nor would they know how to file the matter in Federal Court. In your case, the police responded to a complaint of a violation of state or local law. State and local law, they know. The owner asked that you be removed from the store and they complied with the owner's request. Your remedy is going to be through the civil process - if it is worth the investment of time and money to do so.

If you feel the officers acted outside the scope of their authority, you can make a complaint to the agency.

 

[Taxing Matters]

so, to be clear... MY actions are criminal , theirs are civil?

No, the police give the trespass warning to advise you that if you return after the warning your actions are criminal and you may be arrested. That is the reason why it falls within the work police do to give the trespass warnings.

Police cant enforce federal CIVIL laws?

No, they can't. There is no role under the ADA for the police to do anything. The statute provides only the two remedies that I mentioned earlier: the U.S. Department of Justice can enforce the law by pursuing civil actions against the violator and the statute gives you the right to sue the violator for an injunction to prevent future violations of your rights.

And if the reason IS illegal discrimiantion? Which utimately is my question....

Then there are the two remedies I just mentioned: DOJ enforcement and suing for an injunction.

there IS a criminal provision for harassing a disabled person,... would this NOT constitute said criminal act of harassment?

Exactly what criminal provision is that? There is no federal criminal law for that, nor do I see any law in Oregon that specifically prohibits harassment of disabled persons. Oregon does have a crime of harassment which applies to victims whether disabled or not. ORS § 166.065(1) defines harassment as follows:

166.065 Harassment. (1) A person commits the crime of harassment if the person intentionally:​

​

(a) Harasses or annoys another person by:​

​

(A) Subjecting such other person to offensive physical contact;​

​

(B) Publicly insulting such other person by abusive words or gestures in a manner intended and likely to provoke a violent response; or​

​

(C) Distributing a visual recording, as defined in ORS 163.665, of the other person engaged in sexually explicit conduct, as defined in ORS 163.665, or in a state of nudity, as defined in ORS 163.700, when the other person is under 18 years of age at the time of the recording;​

​

(b) Subjects another to alarm by conveying a false report, known by the conveyor to be false, concerning death or serious physical injury to a person, which report reasonably would be expected to cause alarm; or​

​

(c) Subjects another to alarm by conveying a telephonic, electronic or written threat to inflict serious physical injury on that person or to commit a felony involving the person or property of that person or any member of that person’s family, which threat reasonably would be expected to cause alarm.​

​

Now, typically simply refusing to provide you the accommodations for your service animal would not come anywhere close to harassment as defined in that statute. Naturally if the business owner did engage in the conduct described in the statute you could make a criminal complaint to the police about that and the police might act on that since that is a criminal law that they may enforce.

Look, I get that you are unhappy with how the business owner treated you. But there was nothing the cops could do for you about it. The law provides you two ways to deal with ADA violations by businesses: complain to the DOJ and let it enforce the law and/or sue for the injunction. You may not like that those are the only remedies the law gives you, but the law is what it is.

 

[stealth2]

It occurs to me that placing a blanket on the floor places workers/other customers at risk of a trip/fall.

 

[davidchapman]

If the franchise owner is unresponsive to your written request for a satisfactory resolution, you should contact a civil rights attorney in your area for a personal review of the facts.

Your contact with the franchise owner needs to be by formal letter sent by mail (no emails, no texts, no phone calls). Send the letter certified mail, return receipt requested.

Your letter should be professional. No accusations or threats. You probably would benefit from having an attorney draft the letter for you.

Good luck.

thank you