Posted on 12/09/2024 10:14:35 AM PST by Morgana
A group of special-needs students was denied service at Cracker Barrel in Maryland, with the mother of an autistic boy expressing outrage after the restaurant's manager told them not to come back.
Stacey Campbell said her non-verbal son Jojo, 9, was refused sit-down service at the restaurant in Waldorf on Tuesday along with 10 other special-needs children.
Jojo was on the trip with his school's community-based instruction (CBI) program, which gives special-needs children the opportunity to go on field trips and participate in educational activities.
According to an email from a teacher, the kids and the seven adults with them were denied service at the Cracker Barrel even though they called beforehand to confirm they did not need a reservation.
The email said that the decision had nothing to do with the children's behavior and that the manager told the group not to come back for any future field trips.
'So, if you’re telling them to take us off the list, then they're not welcomed there. Why?' Campbell told WJLA.
The restaurant only allowed the group to place a to-go order and made the students sit in the back of the eatery, where they waited for more than an hour, the teacher's email said.
'We did take the food back to the school and the students enjoyed their lunch and were so well behaved,' it stated.
'I am however disappointed about this experience and am still stunned that this happened in a public setting.'
The email also noted that Cracker Barrel staffers were very rude to the group.
The concerned mother shared the letter on social media to bring attention to the situation, sparking hundreds of reactions.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
So what really happened? What did all these kids do?
Disgusting behavior by cracker barrel staff. There is no excuse for this.
Maybe it was the adults' behavior? Other than through his actions how can you recognize an autistic kid?
The children went wild in the Cracker Barrel store? 🤷🏼♂️
Were the restaurant’s “staffing issues” real or an excuse?
No way to tell.
These days many restaurants really are short-staffed.
So 10 children and 7 adults descended on this joint and expected the same treatment as 4 coming for a meal. It’s a wrong venue fort kids....Pack a lunch and take them to a park.
Well I know the CB near me has almost half the dining room closed, I assume due to staffing.
This is a tough situation and it will be difficult to get a true unemotional POV from either side.
They’re Cracked at cracker barrel
There are two sides to every story.
I would not make a judgement unless I was in the restaurant and saw what happened for myself.
That excuse was given after the incident.
The restaurant should have told them first thing when they arrived that it would be a wait because they were short on help.
The manager will probably be out a job shortly.
Unfortunately, after seeing the photos I’m wondering if there is more to the story than we are being told.
The problem in the restaurant business is that you can have “no shows” who were scheduled to show up at any time—including after the group arrived.
I have also seen employees quit on the spot during lunch hour.
So—the details matter—and management may not have full control over the situation.
While in the back of my head I kinda agree with you..ADA puts them right into the cross hairstyle of a major lawsuit.. the restaurant management has a legal obligation to sit and serve them...maybe in a section by themselves, but they legally obligated to serve them
Well, it’s called Cracker Barrel. They don’t look like crackers to me. 🤣🤣
All I could glean from the article was that their excuse is that they were short staffed.
“the decision had nothing to do with the children’s behavior”
‘A staffing challenge that day led to the closure of part of our second dining room, creating confusion that impacted the group’s experience.’
I still feel we’re not getting a full story here. Not a behavior isse, but rather understaffed? Being understaffed is still workable. We’re missing something.
Crosshairs..
Darn autocorrect
I’m guessing they don’t pay managers much. I’ve noticed that establishments that don’t pay much don’t have stellar management.
But that is just speculation.
Did the "rude staff" happen to be White?
Race, disability, sexual harassment...Cracker Barrel has a long and unfortunate history of several discrimination controversies.
I don't see a lawsuit...The word "reasonable" comes to mind. 17 people is not reasonable.
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