A blind man who was refused entry to a restaurant with his guide dog has instigated a landmark licence review which could set a precedent for disability training in the hospitality industry.
Why should 'training' be the catch-all here? And why should it apply - as of course it will - equally to all, when the issue is with a small subsection of society?
The Royal National Institute of Blind People complained to Tower Hamlets council on Mr Ortega’s behalf. It has triggered a licensing review, believed to be the first of its kind for a restaurant in the UK.
The charity wants conditions added to the diner’s licence, which will ensure staff have to go through training so they know the rules around discrimination against service dog owners.
Where did this latest incident happen, anyway?
Mr Ortega, a software engineer, and his colleagues were refused entry to the Indian restaurant last July.
Ms Fothergill said: “When Mr Ortega complained, the manager was called but he also confirmed guide dog Mercer was not welcome. The manager told Mr Ortega that not everyone liked dogs and that he should show some understanding of Asian culture.”
The restaurant is in Canary Wharf, London. Not Hyderabad.
He added that he had been to Manjal before with Mercer and had not been turned away. Naveen Bhandari, from Manjal, later wrote a letter to Mr Ortega apologising for the incident and offered the group a complimentary meal.
He said managers had realised their mistake and were going to allow Mr Ortega to dine there — but in the 15 minutes while they were preparing a table for him he had left.
See? It's not 'training' that's needed here. It's huge, swinging fines, or the immediate year's closure of any restaurant trying to get away with this.
13 comments:
'Indian' restaurant?
If it wasn't for euphemisms half the journos in the MSM would be unable to communicate at all.....
Today I am totally fucked off. I am fucking fed up of having interfering busybody's wanting to know every fucking move I make. You put me in this bastard system. You took my kids away and turned them against me. And to be told I've got another 3 to 4 years of this God forsaken shit is more than I can fucking well take. I can't even visit my father who will not live forever. I am sick and fucking tired of being understanding and catering to everyone else. You think you are the only one playing the waiting game. Well I have waited too fucking long. You can forget about what we had as I don't want it anymore. I've had a fucking gutful. Publish that if you fucking well dare.
It's in Tower Hamlets
The licencing reviewers are likely to be of the same persuasion as the licence holders
This could go the wrong way and the review decides it's fine to refuse guide dogs after all...
Well, perhaps I am a lone voice but I don't want to see blind people with dogs next to me while I'm trying to enjoy a meal in a restaurant, same goes to spastics.
Bucko, the 1999 Disability Dogs Act makes it illegal for restaurants to refuse entry to those with guide dogs, so it's not optional for Tower Hamlets or anywhere else.
I would like to see prosecutions and hard sentences for all these offenses, whether from taxis or restaurants.
As we all know, there's only one section of society which has a problem with dogs: obey the law of the land or suffer the consequences.
...a small subsection of society,,, - or a small section of sub-society?
We have a new contender for the title of blog nutter. Raise your game Melvin
Jaded
To be honest, I find that a huge variety of things and behaviours put me off my food. It used to be smoking women with their cigarettes held at arm's length in my direction so the smoke didn't get in their eyes. You could always tell the type even before they lit up: scrawny neck, discoloured teeth and brittle hair, plus those vertical creases round the mouth like Dot Cotton especially in the top lip.
I don't think I'd be all that keen on being terribly close to a slavering dog, even though the guide dogs do tend on the whole to be fairly placid. "Waiter, there's a dog hair in my Masala."
"Well Sir," Abdul shakes his head, "Thank your lucky stars this isn't a Korean restaurant, or you'd have the whole dog in your curreee."
"That'll make a change from the cat curry served in here, then."
Anon 09:57
The blog's undeserved treat to entertaining and well scripted, humorous detail.
Taxi drivers take mandatory Disability Awareness training, why not restaurant staff ?
God, theres getting to be some whiny shitbags on here!
The poor fucker is BLIND, cant see the flowers or the big tits on the girls, his only respite from a hard life is having a (usually) placid and floppy dog to make his life that wee bit easier. " Oh, theres a dog near me" Fuck off somewhere else, you wont be missed! As for the monkey-boys and their "Asian culture", fuck you, your murderous cunt Mohamed and your weird problems with dogs.
"'Indian' restaurant?"
If we called them what they actually are, who'd eat there..?!
"Publish that if you fucking well dare."
I have. For what it's worth. A bit more coherence next time, eh?
""The licencing reviewers are likely to be of the same persuasion as the licence holders
Only 'likely'...?
"Well, perhaps I am a lone voice but I don't want to see blind people with dogs..."
Yup, that's very much a minority view, I'd say.
"As we all know, there's only one section of society which has a problem with dogs..."
As a group, yes.
"To be honest, I find that a huge variety of things and behaviours put me off my food."
In some restaurants, that's undoubtedly a lifesaving thing...
"Taxi drivers take mandatory Disability Awareness training, why not restaurant staff ?"
And yet they still refuse assistance dogs despite that. Maybe more undercover operations and savage, swinging punishment will be effective where training fails?
"God, theres getting to be some whiny shitbags on here!"
It's open to all, except the egregiously mad. 'Unknown' is getting close to a ban.
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