[nfbwatlk] Alice's restaurants

[Mike Freeman]

I think Alice will lose. Please understand that in saying this, I am not 
on her side. But a crucial difference in the way, say, Title VI of the 
Civil Rights Act of 1964 is enforced and the way the ADA is enforced is 
that in the former case, specific behaviors are prohibited and, in 
general, there is no remedial behavior that need be subscribed. An 
African-american who has been the victim of a racial slur at a 
restaurant doesn't need any proactive help once the offending behavior 
has been prohibited. By contrast, the ADA implies that some sort of 
remedial behavior (reading the menus?) is necessary but fails to be 
specific. This leads to all sorts of legal complications and connundrums 
which courts and Congress are loath to untangle. Indeed, that is part of 
ADA's problem: it is so vague as to whom it covers and *exactly* what 
behaviors are prohibited.

Also, is it really reasonable to expect a fast-food joint whose servers 
can't even make change to stop and read a menu? I think the answer is 
open to debate. Or, put another way, where does *our* responsibility as 
patrons to take charge of our own alternative techniques begin? I 
personally figure that if I can't handle a Macs without special 
assistance, I just won't go in there.

Mike

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Carl Jarvis
  To: nfbw
  Sent: Saturday, February 09, 2008 7:41 AM
  Subject: [nfbwatlk] Alice's restaurants


  Fast food employees mocked a blind woman who needed help reading menu

  BY THOMAS ZAMBITO
  DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER



  Alice Camarillo, who is legally blind, says she was ridiculed when she 
asked
  for help reading the menu at fast-food restaurants like Burger King,
  McDonald's,
  Taco Bell and Wendy's.

  She sued. A federal judge in Albany threw it out, saying the law 
doesn't
  require restaurant workers to be polite.

  Yesterday, a Manhattan federal appeals court overruled the lower 
court, and
  Camarillo can sue the restaurants under the Americans with 
Disabilities Act.


  "I feel good about it," Camarillo, who lives in upstate Hudson, told 
the
  Daily News. "I'm just sorry it took so long. Quite a few things that 
they
  did were
  humiliating."

  The appeals court ruling means the 2005 suit - believed to be the 
first of
  its kind - could go before a jury this year. The issue is whether the
  restaurants
  properly train their employees to serve the blind and disabled.

  Camarillo said annoyed workers served other customers before reading 
her
  just a partial list of their offerings. Camarillo can read large print 
when
  she
  holds it close, but can't make out most menus.

  During a visit to Burger King, employees "laughed and stared" and 
pointed
  her in the direction of the men's room when she asked for a bathroom, 
she
  claims.


  At Taco Bell, a cashier told her to wait until the rest of the 
customers had
  ordered.

  "Put simply, Camarillo cannot experience full and equal enjoyment of
  defendants' services if she is unable to access the list of the 
services
  available
  to her," the appeals court said.

  Last year, Albany Federal Court Judge Gary Sharpe dismissed the suit, 
saying
  Camarillo was never denied service at the restaurants. Sharpe said ADA 
laws
  don't regulate "rudeness or insensitivity" of workers.

  The appeals judges' disagreed.

  "While restaurants are not necessarily required to have on hand large 
print
  menus that Camarillo would be able to read, they are required to 
ensure that
  their menu options are effectively communicated to individuals who, 
like
  Camarillo, are legally blind," the judges wrote.

  Camarillo's lawyer, Michael O'Neill, believes this is the first time a 
blind
  or disabled person has made such a challenge under the ADA.

  "The way Alice was treated in some of these restaurants was just 
horrible,"
  O'Neill said.

  Lawyers for the restaurants declined to comment.

  tzambito at nydailynews.com

  http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/02/09/2008-02-09_fast_food_employees_mocked_a_blind_woman.html



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-------------- next part --------------
I think Alice will lose. Please understand that in saying this, I am not on her side. But a crucial difference in the way, say, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is enforced and the way the ADA is enforced is that in the former case, specific behaviors are prohibited and, in general, there is no remedial behavior that need be subscribed. An African-american who has been the victim of a racial slur at a restaurant doesn't need any proactive help once the offending behavior has been prohibited. By contrast, the ADA implies that some sort of remedial behavior (reading the menus?) is necessary but fails to be specific. This leads to all sorts of legal complications and connundrums which courts and Congress are loath to untangle. Indeed, that is part of ADA's problem: it is so vague as to whom it covers and *exactly* what behaviors are prohibited.
 
Also, is it really reasonable to expect a fast-food joint whose servers can't even make change to stop and read a menu? I think the answer is open to debate. Or, put another way, where does *our* responsibility as patrons to take charge of our own alternative techniques begin? I personally figure that if I can't handle a Macs without special assistance, I just won't go in there.
 
Mike
 
----- Original Message -----
From:
mailto:carjar at olypen.com Carl Jarvis
To:
mailto:nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org nfbw
Sent:
Saturday, February 09, 2008 7:41 AM
Subject:
[nfbwatlk] Alice's restaurants
Fast food employees mocked a blind woman who needed help reading menu
BY THOMAS ZAMBITO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Alice Camarillo, who is legally blind, says she was ridiculed when she asked
for help reading the menu at fast-food restaurants like Burger King,
McDonald's,
Taco Bell and Wendy's.
She sued. A federal judge in Albany threw it out, saying the law doesn't
require restaurant workers to be polite.
Yesterday, a Manhattan federal appeals court overruled the lower court, and
Camarillo can sue the restaurants under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"I feel good about it," Camarillo, who lives in upstate Hudson, told the
Daily News. "I'm just sorry it took so long. Quite a few things that they
did were
humiliating."
The appeals court ruling means the 2005 suit - believed to be the first of
its kind - could go before a jury this year. The issue is whether the
restaurants
properly train their employees to serve the blind and disabled.
Camarillo said annoyed workers served other customers before reading her
just a partial list of their offerings. Camarillo can read large print when
she
holds it close, but can't make out most menus.
During a visit to Burger King, employees "laughed and stared" and pointed
her in the direction of the men's room when she asked for a bathroom, she
claims.
At Taco Bell, a cashier told her to wait until the rest of the customers had
ordered.
"Put simply, Camarillo cannot experience full and equal enjoyment of
defendants' services if she is unable to access the list of the services
available
to her," the appeals court said.
Last year, Albany Federal Court Judge Gary Sharpe dismissed the suit, saying
Camarillo was never denied service at the restaurants. Sharpe said ADA laws
don't regulate "rudeness or insensitivity" of workers.
The appeals judges' disagreed.
"While restaurants are not necessarily required to have on hand large print
menus that Camarillo would be able to read, they are required to ensure that
their menu options are effectively communicated to individuals who, like
Camarillo, are legally blind," the judges wrote.
Camarillo's lawyer, Michael O'Neill, believes this is the first time a blind
or disabled person has made such a challenge under the ADA.
"The way Alice was treated in some of these restaurants was just horrible,"
O'Neill said.
Lawyers for the restaurants declined to comment.
mailto:tzambito at nydailynews.com tzambito at nydailynews.com
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/02/09/2008-02-09_fast_food_employees_mocked_a_blind_woman.html http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/02/09/2008-02-09_fast_food_employees_mocked_a_blind_woman.html
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