Disabled man: Dog barred from eatery
A disabled man who uses a dog for assistance was denied service at a Baton Rouge restaurant last month and said ignorance of federal disability rights law was probably the reason.
Thomas Brent Mowrey, a former Arizona resident who has lived with his wife in an RV in Baton Rouge for two months now, said he was denied service Jan. 26 at the Waffle House on Siegen Lane near Interstate 10.
Mowrey said a cook and the restaurant’s manager both said he had to leave because he had a dog with him.
Mowrey, who said he is deaf in his left ear, uses a service dog to assist him.
Mowrey provided documentation showing his dog, Lady, is certified as a service dog.
Staff members at the Waffle House, however, told Mowrey that state health laws prohibit dogs from going inside restaurants, he said.
“My dog has been on airplanes, inside Wal-Mart, CC’s (Community Coffee) and I’ve never had a problem,” Mowrey said Tuesday.
Frank Miller, owner and operator of Miller Properties Inc., owns the Waffle House where the incident happened as well as 25 other Waffle Houses in southwest Louisiana.
Miller confirmed the incident occurred, said it shouldn’t have and emphasized his company has “apologized profusely” to Mowrey.
“We handled it wrong,” Miller said. “We asked him what we could do and he said he just wanted compensation.”
Miller, who said he has not had a complaint like this in his 35 years in business, said he has implemented some training for his staff members about the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
Mowrey said Miller is lying and said no one with Miller Properties Inc. apologized to him. Mowrey said he did not ask for money.
“This is not about money. I don’t want their money or need their money. It’s about justice,” Mowrey said.
According to ADA materials, most service animals are dogs and are not legally required to wear special equipment or tags. Under the law, businesses cannot require proof or certification of the service dog’s training.
Mowrey said he did show the Waffle House employees his dog’s certification after he called the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office to file a complaint.
The ADA ensures that people with disabilities can go into taxis, buses, trains, stores, restaurants, schools, parks and other public places with their trained service animals.
The federal law trumps state and local health codes that prohibit animals from certain establishments.
Jolie Adams, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Hospitals, said there is a clause in the state’s sanitary code that addresses service animals and the code closely mirrors the federal law.
Although the department does not keep records of complaints from the disabled about service denial in restaurants, Adams said the issue rarely comes up.
Adams said every Louisiana restaurant is issued a copy of the state sanitary code.
“People need to be better informed about the ADA law,” Mowrey said.
Although he has not filed a civil lawsuit, Mowrey said, he has sent written complaints to the U.S. Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney General’s Office and the state Attorney General’s Office.
Mowrey received a Jan. 28 letter from the state Attorney General’s Office saying officials there will send the complaint to the company and “ask the company to review the problem and respond.”
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