Battle for Fran O'Brien's

MUDVILLE GAZETTE ^ | April 12, 2006 | BUZZ PATTERSON

[radar101]

Hello all,

This past Friday night I was privileged to visit Fran O'Brien's steakhouse in the Capitol Hilton, Washington, DC. Every Friday night, Hal Koster, the restaurant manager and Vietnam Vet, invites our wounded soldiers convalescing at nearby Walter Reed Army Center to a free steak dinner and drinks. It was supposedly a "slow" night for our heroes as many were on a ski trip in Colorado. But I walked into an absolutely packed room of wounded soldiers and their families enjoying a minor but well-deserved recognition for their service to our country.

I've also discovered since then that the Hilton Corporation will not be renewing the lease. Apparently, there are too many "liability issues" in accommodating American heroes in wheelchairs. In fact , the lease (and therefore the dinners) will expire in a few short weeks. If America had responded as we would in the past, this would be inconsequential really. Obviously we have not and it is a tragic commentary on today's PC-ness.

Please read the attached e-mail with more of the details.

Best, Buzz

Buzz Patterson Lieutenant Colonel, USAF (Retired)

[gitmogrunt]

Rule Number 1 in the restaurant business:"No Free Food".

Period. end of quote.

[Cvengr]

Maybe Marriott will pick them up.

[Coop]

So it's the restaurant's fault? Nice.

[silverleaf]

Just think of Paris Hilton as the recipient of your money the next time you patronize a Hilton establishemnt.

[LucyJo]

Bkmrk and Bump

[GodBlessUSA]

Thanks hipaatwo, for providing emails. Sent each one a mail.

[Coop]

Bump

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Good morning.

This is down right disgusting.

Getting ready to fire of some letters to let the big wigs know that this is a bad move.

Our troops rock and so does Hal.

God bless Hal and our troops.

[RouxStir]

"Maybe they should get rid of Paris instead!"

The city? Or the dizzy blond? Or both?

[P-Marlowe]

The problem lies in the fact that Hilton is an international corporation and is no longer a distinctly American company. I suspect that this has more to do with politics than access. By renewing the lease on a company that is giving its all to support our troops, Hilton would see itself as being patriotic to the United States, which just might offend some anti-Americans in Europe or the Middle East. So they used this ruse (and yes it is clearly a ruse) about wheelchair access and liability to appease the Anti-American sentiments of its European and Middle Eastern stockholders and franchisers.

The fact of the matter is that their ruse about wheelchair access is an illegal attempt to circumvent the Americans With Disabilities Act, and each and every disabled soldier who is negatively affected by this heartless decision by Hilton may well have a cause of action against Hilton. So by claiming that they are doing this to aviod lawsuits, they very well may have bought themselves a few hundred.

[lastchance]

Apparently, there are too many "liability issues" in accommodating American heroes in wheelchairs.

I am pretty certain this could be challenged under the ADA.

[lastchance]

Yes it is. The Department of Justice enforces the ADA in response to complaints. The guidline for construction in new and existing buildings is the ADAAG. It can be found in one of the CFR's. Wish I could remember which one.
Normally a wheel chair ramp must be sloped 1:12, in existing buildings because of space constraints this may be modified to 1:10.

I sure hope the DAV will see fit to file a complaint on behalf of the veterans.

[lastchance]

Yes they are. States can write their own versions of ADA if the standards are stricter than the federal one. For example Florida requires a lavatory in H/C access bathroom stalls while the Fed regulations do not.

[lastchance]

Information on ADA can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/

[ARA]

No it is an american company with home office in Beverly HIlls... Hilton just reacquired its international operations after man years of being seperated...

100% USA

[Young Scholar]

How does the ADA prevent Hilton from not renewing a lease because of liability concerns?

[Young Scholar]

Perhaps Hilton decided it would be too expensive to comply with ADA regulations and instead decided to close the place down. Should that be illegal, too? Should companies be forced to pay for ADA improvements even if it means they take a loss?

[PISANO]

I'm starting to really despise the bean counters who make decisions in corporate America.

Realize THEY ARE FORCED to do so to protect their companies from LIABILITY LAWSUITS.

Blame CONGRESS for passing thousands of idiotic LAWS and REGULATIONS that have far surpassed any common sense.

[CDHart]

"Part of it is that Hilton has refused to put in wheelchair access to the restaurant "

I thought that all businesses had to provide disabled access regardless of the kind of business they had. Even restaurants in our small rural town have had to do it. This sounds peculiar.

Carolyn

[PISANO]

Remember when bars and restaurants went out of their way to cater to men and women in uniform

I remember vividly. It was after WWII and up until 1967. After that the flower children came into vogue. Hate AUTHORITY, hate the Military [baby killers you know] and hate the NORMS that was the cohesive of our culture and society.

Walking the streets of St. Louis in uniform in 1962 and then coming home on leave after a tour in Vietnam in 1967 was like NIGHT and DAY. The stares and looks were palpable.

Sadly things only got worse for the Military man from then and IMHO today it is MUCH better because 911 changed many hearts and the feelings about our Military.