I was discriminated against at a restaurant

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Hi,

I know I've been inactive for a while, but I thought I'd share this.

As some of you may know I am graduating high school this year and it's tradition in my high school for the teachers and graduting classes to have dinner and go to a bar afterwards. I have Latte, my service dog with me most of the time.

So here is the story:

As I enter the restaurant the security guard stops me and asks if my dog is a service dog. I answer that yes, he is. Security tells me that we have to check with the owner to make sure it's okay for me to bring my SD into the restaurant. I tell security guard that according to law my SD (service dog) is allowed in the restaurant. He tells me that we still need to check with "the boss".

We walk over to the owner of the restaurant and the following conversation takes place:
Security guard: I just need to check that it's okay for the SD to be here.
Owner: The dog has to wait outside.
Me: My dog is a service dog, and according to law, he is allowed to accompany me, even in restaurants *I pull out my phone and show him the law*
Owner: I dont care. The dog has to be outside, he is not allowed inside.
Me: But according to the law he is .
Owner: I don't care, you can stay but the dog has to wait outside.
Me: By denying my SD access you are discriminating me because of my disability and breaking the law.

After this the owner just ignores me and walks away.


I left a complaint of discrimination to the appropriate authority and according to their lawyer, this was illegal discrimination. Because of this the owner of the restaurant owes me a formal apology and a financial compensation (not big, but still).


I am looking for support as this was my first time being actually discriminated against because of my autism.

Next time, pull out your phone to video and file an ADA complaint.

Scary stuff

Awesome job for fighting this legally! That must’ve been really stressful, but it makes it that much easier for the next person who brings in a service dog.

I haven’t experienced too much discrimination yet because of my dog, but I know it’s going to happen at some point...

If you have a lawyer, then you can sue the owner.

Or maybe just alert the Media -- they'll slurp this up like gravy!

What was the name of the restaurant, and where is its location?

I asked to record them saying that I wasnt allowed with Latte, but they denied and I didnt want to do anything wrong so I didnt record.

I do, however, have several witnesses to the situation.

Name, address of restaurant, please? Names of manager and security guard, please?

Luckily, the lawyer I contacted works for the Finnish government (I live in Finland, and I dont want to share the exact location and name until the matter is formally resolved (still ongoing)), which means that I didnt have to pay for the work he's done.

He also stated that if the owner doesnt apologize and accept wrongdoing it is in the GOVERNMENT'S interest to take this guy to court for not following the law. This is great as I wouldnt be liable for any court costs, if it does end up going that far. I would just hope that they accept wrongdoing and apologize.

If they dont (which they might, considering the owners behaviour and attitude against me that night), the lawyer suggested that we make this public (not only to "punish" the restaurant but also to "warn" other restaurants that may have similar ideas) and see if this is something that we should take to court (not on behalf of me personally, but use me as an example of this restaurants discriminatory policies).

As the situation is still ongoing I don't want to publish the names or exact location, but this all took place in Finland. If any service dog users here live in Finland, PM me and I can privately share the location's name so you can avoid the place when out with your SD.

I don't know when the proceedings will be finished. It depends on if the owner just accepts that he was wrong and apologizes, in which case I assume it shouldn't take more than a few weeks. If he chooses to not accept that he was wrong, though, and we pursue it further, the process could very well take months, if not years.

I wont share the exact details until I am certain that it wont harm my case (not sure why or how it could, but I prefer to be on the safe side)

Yes. Luckily because of my autism, I dont have trouble maintaining my composure during an argument and wont start yelling/insulting/being irrational, so that stressor wasn't present. The stress of missing out on a (literally) once in a lifetime event because of someone who chose to discriminate me was unfortunately there.

Luckily I had some great friends stand by me and support me when after leaving the restaurant I went outside to let out my emotions, and I just cried.

I just always make sure to have the law with me. People not knowing the law is quite normal, but people saying that they dont care about the law was certainly something new to me.

I hope that you dont have to experience something similar to my recent experience, although if you do I hope that you are prepared with facts and the law and remember to not do anything rude or otherwise unwise that they can blame the refusal on*.

*at least where I live, restaurants can choose to not serve someone (for example if the person is violent, drunk etc.) so I made sure to be rational and polite so that they wouldn't be able to claim that I would have filled any of the above mentioned criteria.

Aww ... I was hoping that it it had taken place somewhere near Los Angeles CA/USA. Sorry I can't get involved. I'd love a good fight for justice.

Good luck and I hope you win hard enough for them to feel the blow.

I would check your state's public recording laws, to see if you can record it anyway if it happens again.

I'm sorry that happened to you. But are you sure that to sue him is worth the required time of your life, the risk of the costs and to have to deal with people like lawyers who mostly want nothing but money? Was somebody with you except the dog who can confirm that it really happened?

I think it's worth it, you have no clue how much I regret not suing my middle school for ADA violations. It's less about t he money than wanting it not to happen again.

Hi, you must have missed some of the parts as it wouldnt be me taking them to court, but rather the government for failing to follow the law (aka not me paying for lawyers/fees). And yes, i have witnesses.

What are 10000 lawyers on the ground of the ocean? Just a nice start.
Sorry, but live is to short to sue every idiot. The only ones who will win for sure in such a cases are the lawyers.
But sueing an idiot and feeding some lawyers is nothing that I would really call a big success.
If you have witnesses then you can try it. But you could still loose once he or somebody who works there is allergic to dogs.

You are sure that you don't like Shakespeare?

"To be, or not to be, that is the question,
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?
...
Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honour's at the stake."

I don't think you'd get in trouble even if you did tell the name of the place; black people and other ethnical minorities do it all the time (in Finland) when they have been or feel like they have been discriminated against and as far as I know they don't get in trouble for it.