Posted on 09/25/2002 3:57:35 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
An Omaha man is suing Kum & Go Convenience Stores for refusing to let him use the bathroom.
He believes the company is discriminating against people who live and work in a certain part of town.
Most of plumber Frank Bilello's jobs are east of 42nd Street. Most of his job sites don't have bathrooms. So when Bilello has to go, he often stops at a gas station or convenience store.
"I bought a pop and asked him to use the restroom and he told me there's no public facility in there," Bilello said.
Bilello is quick to point out that Omaha city ordinance requires businesses to "provide toilet rooms ... to their customers." He can't understand why people don't take it seriously.
"Once when I was at 24th and Leavenworth, a police officer actually threatened to arrest me if I didn't leave the gas station. I showed him the statute that provided me the right to use the public facility and he also told me if I didn't leave, he'd have me arrested," Bilello said.
But city prosecutor Marty Conboy says under the ordinance, police could have arrested the business owner for failing to provide a restroom.
"In the 22 years that I've been around, no one yet has come around wanting someone arrested for denial of a bathroom, but theoretically they could," Conboy said.
Frank Bilello said he's not trying to get anyone thrown in jail, he just wants to use the bathroom. So he's suing Kum & Go in federal district court for allegedly refusing restroom services to its customers east of 42nd Street.
Bilello has kept track over the years. He said he's observed, almost without exception, that the Kum & Go stores west of 42nd Street will let him use the restrooms, while the Kum & Go stores east of 42nd Street won't.
"We'll sell you gas, we'll sell you beer, we'll sell you wine, but we won't let you use our restrooms!" Bilello said.
NewsWatch 7 took a hidden camera into six Kum & Go stores east of 42nd Street. When we asked to use the bathroom, they said:
"We don't have a public bathroom, no. Sorry."
"We don't have one, not a public one."
"No, I'm sorry there's not a public restroom."
But KETV NewsWatch 7 went to the Kum & Go at 51st and Leavenworth streets, which is west of 42nd street, the clerk let the producer go to the restroom behind the counter. At the Kum & Go at 71st and Pacific streets, there was no problem.
"I feel they're doing economic racism. What they're saying is the people in this area have different bodily functions than the people in west Omaha where you can go (to) the restroom all day long," Bilello said.
In response to his complaint, the Omaha City Council ordered the Kum & Go at 24th and Leavenworth streets to open its restroom, but only during the day.
Officially, Kum & Go declined to comment for KETV NewsWatch 7's story. But a clerk told KETV NewsWatch 7's Carol Kloss that the company is concerned about safety and security in high crime areas.
In one case, the bathroom in the store is located behind the counter and behind the security camera.
"Any man can come in, go to the bathroom, put a mask on, come out and rob me and what am I to do?" the clerk said.
But Bilello says the law's the law, and if it takes a lawsuit to force Kum & Go to let him go, "So be it. I'll do it," Bilello said.
Besides asking Kum & Go to comply with the Omaha city code, the lawsuit also seeks damages for Bilello's "discomfort, inconvenience, and embarrassment."
Of course, my home of Alaska is pretty bad, too- we have practically ZERO public restrooms on our highways, and roadside businesses more often than not are uncooperative (sometimes nasty) about using their facilities unless you buy something substantial. This leads to a lot of al fresco" peeing!
Of course, my home of Alaska is pretty bad, too- we have practically ZERO public restrooms on our highways, and roadside businesses more often than not are uncooperative (sometimes nasty) about using their facilities unless you buy something substantial. This leads to a lot of al fresco" peeing!
The reason was that after 9pm people would pull up and buy gas then go to the restroom three(!) at a time. Then after they left you'd find out that they went into the restroom to shoot heroin (or whatever they were doing).
They'd leave syringes on the floor/sink/toilet and about five gallons of puke on the floor, walls, and sink. We just locked the restroom and told anyone we didn't know to use the bushes because we didn't have a key.
On the other hand, the chain's name Kum and Go certainly does sound like an invitation to use the aforementioned facilities.
Sounds like an escort service.
Holy.....this is one of the dumbest quotes I have read this year!
I have only been in and around Anchorage -> Seward -> Homer. They had nice facilities along the highways and tourist areas… I’ve been to the little hiking trail/rest areas on the side of the road for two hours and never seen another soul… I guess that all of Alaska isn’t like that though…
He made the statement that he had two nieces that were half black. His concern was with making the city equally accessable to all. That is the city ordinance.
His lawsuit I believe asked for lawyers fees and $1.00. He was said to have spent $6000 of his own money fighting and documenting this discrimination
This is a man we should all be proud of.
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