Service Dog Denied Entrance
Let me get this right. This man is injured serving his country and this restaurant manager wants to play power games so he denies the soldier and his dog service at this restaurant. Huh!? Thankfully the other manager has some sense and apologized. How about giving the insulted soldier a year’s worth of free pizza as a way of showing everyone you really ARE sorry?
This article is from NBC17.com.
Soldier Denied Service Due To Guide Dog
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A disabled soldier said he was denied the freedom he went to war for after a restaurant refused to serve him because he had a guide dog.
Colin Rich brings his dog Indy wherever he goes. Indy has been a friend and a guide ever since Rich was shot in the head during combat in Afghanistan.
“I was visually impaired, I have a seizure disorder,” Rich said. “That’s why I have Indi.”
On Monday, Rich, his wife Nancy and a friend went to Tony’s Pizza in the Bordeaux shopping center in Fayetteville for a bite to eat, but they said the manager refused to serve them, saying Indi violated health code.
“I tried to explain to him it wasn’t just a dog, it was a guide dog,” Rich said. “He said he didn’t care, he can serve anybody he wants to or refuse service to anyone he wants to out.”
The Riches are now considering taking legal action against the restaurant for violating the American With Disabilities Act. The act requires restaurants to allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals into customer areas.
“You know my husband is my hero, he shouldn’t be treated like that — not at all,” Nancy said.
“I was injured in the line of duty defending his rights, and now he denies me my freedoms,” Rich said.
Jim Crossgove, a different manager from Tony’s Pizza spoke to NBC17 and apologized for his colleague’s misjudgment. He said his coworker simply didn’t know the law.
