Posted on 09/13/2014 2:38:18 PM PDT by walford
PATERSON, NJ -- A disabled veteran was thrown out of a fast food restaurant because of his service dog.
The incident itself is troubling enough, but you won't believe what happened after the Eyewitness News investigators arrived at the restaurant to demand answers.
It's one of the most bizarre exchanges Eyewitness News has ever had on a story. Federal law is very clear: Dogs are recognized as service animals and all businesses open to the public, including restaurants, must allow them in.
But a U.S. Army veteran says a Subway restaurant in Paterson, New Jersey, blatantly ignored the law, and now, he's determined to send them a message in court.
Richard Hunter's troubled life turned around in July when the U.S. Army veteran received a service dog from the non-profit group Dogs4Warriors. The 50-year-old suffers from severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
"He realizes I'm having anxiety before I do," Richard Hunter said.
*video*
So, it was a big deal when Hunter finally took his son and a coworker to lunch a few weeks ago at a Subway restaurant in Paterson, New Jersey.
"This was huge to go out with my son for the first time in over ten years," Hunter said.
The sign on the door seemingly said it all: "Service animals are welcome," but Hunter claims the manager, later identified as Mitul Ahmed, said something very different.
"I may have been holding the door when he first said something. He said, 'The dog is not allowed in here. Get the dog out of here,'" Hunter said.
"He was clearly identified as a service animal," Eyewitness News Investigative Reporter Sarah Wallace said.
"He was wearing what he has on right now," Hunter said. "I said he was a service animal."
"He didn't care," Wallace said.
"That's exactly what he said, 'I don't care,'" Hunter said.
Hunter called the cops who said they couldn't do anything. He then called the owner.
"The owner told me straight up: 'I can refuse service to anyone I want,'" Hunter said.
That's when Hunter reached out to disability rights attorney Robert Tandy.
"No food establishment can refuse entry to a service animal," Tandy said.
"Plain and simple," Wallace said.
"Simple as that," Tandy said.
When Eyewitness News found the manager, Mitul Ahmed, behind the counter he denied everything.
"You're not Mitul Ahmed," Wallace said.
"No, he's not here," Ahmed said.
Oh, and that sign on the door, suddenly changed. The line about service animals welcome was removed.
The owner's son arrived, with a foot-long list of excuses.
"If he's not going to say he made a mistake, that's fine too, because I'm going to be the better person, you know, we both messed up, all right, we messed up more," said Zaphir Pathan, the Subway owner's son.
"How did he mess up by having a service dog and wanting to go into the store, I don't understand that?" Wallace said.
"You're completely twisting the situation, that's funny," Pathan said.
"If I go into that Subway with a service dog, will I be allowed in?" Wallace asked.
"You can go in right now because now we know," he said.
*video*
Now, Guess what? Ahmed is still working and still in denial.
"You weren't here," Wallace said.
"No," Ahmed said.
"So, you're ok having him work for you when he lied?" Wallace asked.
"Who doesn't lie when they don't want their case thrown under the water?" Pathan said.
"OK, my goodness," Wallace said.
"I was just looking for an apology. I was just looking for an apology that you're wrong," Hunter said. "Now, I'm afraid to go out. I'm having anxiety even to go to the corner store now."
George W. Bush has taken up the cause to change the language of PTSD. He argues that “disorder” carries a negative stigma like there is something wrong with the sufferer. He instead calls it Post Traumatic Stress Injury. K tend to agree... Why label the person as defective when they had no control over the defective shit the were forced to go through?
Thanks Fred Nerks!
Is there a reason this business hasn’t burned to the ground ??
—=000=—
His Glass Insurance will likely spike, IF he can get it.......
They are amazing. Wish I could have met him. Amy puts up a good front for a larger dog, loves to run up and down the fence barking and growling with the pitt next door, but she likes those her own size. Once I move I plan on getting her a friend. She really doesn’t like to be alone.
Should have stepped in and taken a seat and made them throw him out. Taking copious pictures/video would also have been useful.
The elderly have the highest suicide rates so this comes as no surprise.
Yes, they are amazing dogs. Friendly, too. He used to be on a leash out on the front porch. My street was on the way to the local elementary school. Everybody came to the porch to say hello to Lucky.
Twice a day. He loved it.
Lucky, indeed.
I have never darkened the door of a Subway restaurant but these days it’s hard to find a business that is not owned or managed by middle eastern people. But I get what you are saying.
Which of us is more civilised?
“Mr. Ahmed is going to be taken to Federal court and he is going to lose on Summary Judgment. He is going to pay a big fine for violation of 42 USC something or other, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and there’s probably a parallel State law which may be even more stringent. Mr. Ahmed is also going to pay the Vet’s attorneys fees and costs.
That’s how it works.”
Do you actually think he’s going to defend a white veteran over an Arab Muslim?
“Sounds like he got a good ADA attorney. My bet is that this idiot Subway owner is going to end up writing a very fat check, after which Subway may just terminate his franchise.”
They know who is going to riot and who is not.
In this allegedly post-racial/post-sectarian America, it matters not what you do, but who you are and to whom you are doing it.
Rule-of-Law is essentially dead in this country.
One CAN live without convenience stores. I have even left a store rather than use the checkout with a Muslim as checker. I won’t deal with them in ANY way-ever. How DO they buy these franchises? And how do they not serve pork cold cuts in a sandwich shop? Would YOU trust any food they made? I’d rather eat out of a dumpster!
An emotional support dog is not a service dog. The owner was not only justified, but legally obligated to turn away anyone bringing in a dof that is not a legally defined and licensed service dog.
I can’t remember the last time I was in a convenience store. I just don’t go to those types of places. On the other hand, I visited a local Schlotzky’s a few months ago and it was run by middle easterners. I never went back but I noticed a few weeks ago it had closed down.
In Vermont there is no licensing of service animals. A customer can literally declare anything (pet cockroach?) a service animal.
The Department of Justice won’t have anything to do with it. The Vet will use a private attorney.
So you don't mind if the guy in a wheelchair has to park in a normal-sized space 100 yards from the entrance because all the handicapped places are taken up by people with heart conditions?
Absolutely. Saw a younger healthy guy with a dog in Home Depot the other day. Had a "vest" on but the stupid dog was obviously not trained for anything. It was straining at the leash, trying to sniff and smell everything.
you don’t even make sense
Don’t forget a nose ring with snot on it....yeah I saw that a few times....turned around and walked out.
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