What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Ohio
I'm writting this on behalf of my friend....
My legaly blind friend was in Krogers (national food chain in Ohio) attempting to buy some water. He had his service animal on a leash, guiding him through the store. The dog never barked or growled, as he is trained not to. Basicly they were both minding their own buisness.
Security for the store approaches the blind man. He tells him "dogs" are not allowed in the store. The man proceeds to tell him in a calm voice that this is a service animal. The guard gets loud and hostile and tells him that others have tried to bring their "dogs" into the store and that "dogs" are not allowed in the store. Once again the blind man explains nicely that this is a seeing eye dog (the dog was on a harness and had his tags on). The security guard only seems to get more belligerent. At this point the man walks away thinking the security guard has lost his ever-loving mind. He attempts to walk to the register to pay for his water. At this point the security guard snatches the water from him and tells him to get out the store. The blind man asks to speak to the store manager at this point. The security guard tells him "NO! I've got this under control!" Again the manager was requested. At this point the security guard tells him he is going to get a police officer to remove him from the store. He asks can he atleast get a phone number to contact someone? The security guard says sure, but first you have to get out of the store. At this point the security guard picks up the blind man and throws him physically out of the store!!
He was nice enough to come back outside and give him a 1-800 number to call.
The blind man promptly calls the store to speak to the manager who basically had a "...and -- so..what?" attitude. The manager said he would check into it, but never returned the call. With some digging we got the security guards name, and found out that he is more than just security... he is a city cop of all things! -- Hired by the store.
Question: Does my friend have a discrimination case? We have been getting mixed answers from different "opinions". I've told him to seek legal help, but that costs more money than he can afford. He even looked into the local law college. He's called almost everyone. Any help, advice or points of interest would be greatly appreciated in this matter. Sorry so long winded.
I'm writting this on behalf of my friend....
My legaly blind friend was in Krogers (national food chain in Ohio) attempting to buy some water. He had his service animal on a leash, guiding him through the store. The dog never barked or growled, as he is trained not to. Basicly they were both minding their own buisness.
Security for the store approaches the blind man. He tells him "dogs" are not allowed in the store. The man proceeds to tell him in a calm voice that this is a service animal. The guard gets loud and hostile and tells him that others have tried to bring their "dogs" into the store and that "dogs" are not allowed in the store. Once again the blind man explains nicely that this is a seeing eye dog (the dog was on a harness and had his tags on). The security guard only seems to get more belligerent. At this point the man walks away thinking the security guard has lost his ever-loving mind. He attempts to walk to the register to pay for his water. At this point the security guard snatches the water from him and tells him to get out the store. The blind man asks to speak to the store manager at this point. The security guard tells him "NO! I've got this under control!" Again the manager was requested. At this point the security guard tells him he is going to get a police officer to remove him from the store. He asks can he atleast get a phone number to contact someone? The security guard says sure, but first you have to get out of the store. At this point the security guard picks up the blind man and throws him physically out of the store!!
He was nice enough to come back outside and give him a 1-800 number to call.The blind man promptly calls the store to speak to the manager who basically had a "...and -- so..what?" attitude. The manager said he would check into it, but never returned the call. With some digging we got the security guards name, and found out that he is more than just security... he is a city cop of all things! -- Hired by the store.
Question: Does my friend have a discrimination case? We have been getting mixed answers from different "opinions". I've told him to seek legal help, but that costs more money than he can afford. He even looked into the local law college. He's called almost everyone. Any help, advice or points of interest would be greatly appreciated in this matter. Sorry so long winded.