Respect for Persons With Disabilities

I was in a store the other day, one that I frequent in the neighborhood where I live. It is a small, minority-owned business. The proprietor, whom I’ll call Mr. Manny, is a Pakistani American. Given my druthers, I love supporting a small business, particularly one that is minority-owned. But I witnessed something that made me not want to support this particular business any longer. It appeared to be what I call a blatant example of discrimination against a person with a disability.

A gentleman customer, whom I’ll call Phil, entered the store with a service dog. The dog is also apparently an emotional support animal as well. This man didn’t have a physical disability, at least not one that I could see with the naked eye. His disability was an intellectual disability. As an aside and just for context, the term intellectual disability replaced the phrases mentally retarded and mental retardation. Anyone could easily tell just from 30 seconds of talking to him, or hearing him speak. An intellectual disability involves problems with general mental abilities that affect functioning in two areas: (1) intellectual functioning (such as learning, problem solving, judgement); and (2) adaptive functioning (activities of daily life such as communication and independent living), according to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.Examples of these could include areas of personal care, such as dressing, grooming, or bathing; managing finances, paying bills, budgeting; or properly maintaining a home by cleaning or repairing, cooking, doing laundry, or shopping for personal items. Service dogs can help people navigate life more effectively. I became sensitive  to the needs and rights of disabled persons after watching the movie, I Am Sam, a delightful yet informative movie about a man (portrayed by Sean Penn) who had an intellectual disability and his fight to maintain custody of his minor child, also featuring Dakota Fanning, Michelle, Pfeiffer, and Loretta Devine.

So, this customer Phil entered the store with his service dog. Mr. Manny immediately saw this customer and his service animal and began screaming at him to leave. Mr. Manny was dern near foaming at the mouth. I just couldn’t believe my eyes. Phil reached into his book bag and removed a certificate and registration card to show Mr. Manny. Until that day, I never knew that service animals and emotional support animals can be registered, and service dogs specifically go through a training and certification process. I always thought people merely slapped a sweater with the words “Service Animal” affixed to it. I guess it makes sense that there would be some sort of proof of that. Otherwise some people would game the system and pretend to have a service animal for the advantages and benefits they otherwise might not be entitled to receive. I suspect some people have probably done that.

I stood there watching as Mr. Manny, still foaming at the mouth, antagonized Phil. Okay, Okay. No, he wasn’t really foaming at the mouth. Here’s one of my embellishment moments. But my gosh, he was screaming at Phil something crazy, talking about how he’s tired of ejecting him. I don’t even know how Mr. Manny was unaware his behavior was illegal. The documents Phil displayed included a certificate, registration card, and a telephone number that Mr. Manny could have called to verify – had he bothered to even look at them. I went home and did some research and learned so much.

The rights of disabled persons are protected under law, specifically The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  This also includes protecting a disabled person’s right to use a service animal. The ADA allows for substantial financial penalties for violating a disabled person’s rights. For the first offense, violators could be subject to a fine of up to $75,000 for the first offense and up to $150,000 for subsequent violations. State laws could impose additional penalties. In Maryland for instance, violators may be subject to a misdemeanor charge accompanied by a fine of up to $500 for each offense. Mr. Manny evidently was not aware of this.

The label emotional support animal is a sub-compartment of a service animal. The service letter and registration card such as the ones Phil was carrying can be valuable. They can prevent a disabled person with a service animal from paying pet deposits when staying in a hotel or renting an apartment or when traveling on airplanes. They can also help to prevent them from being denied service altogether just as Mr. Manny was doing to Phil.

I felt like going back and telling Mr. Manny that what he’s doing was violating Phil’s rights. But despite his impairment, Phil was on top of things. He left, saying he was going to file a formal complaint with authorities. That goes to prove that you shouldn’t discount someone merely because they have a disability. Phil was sharp and aware enough to know how to protect himself. I think Mr. Manny was just being a great big schmuck. Yes, I could have gone back and told him what he was doing is wrong; however, those fines can teach him much better than I ever could.