A Kentucky restaurant was slapped with a $25,000 effective after refusing to serve a disabled Navy veteran due to her service canine, officers mentioned.
The Lexington-Fayette County Human Rights Fee dominated Oasis Mediterranean Restaurant and proprietor Ahmad Salah violated state and metropolis anti-discrimination legal guidelines once they ordered Sarah Van Vooren to depart the Chevy Chase eatery in March 2023.
“The offense was intentional and it was extreme,” a listening to officer wrote within the ruling adopted Sept. 15 by the fee.
Information of the ruling was first reported by the Lexington Herald-Chief.
Van Vooren, now a Fayette County Public Faculties instructor, filed her criticism final yr after Salah blocked her and her service canine, a blond Labrador named Mooney, from accessing the restroom and buffet.
The fee launched an investigation and issued a possible trigger willpower earlier than the case went earlier than the listening to officer.
The officer concluded that Salah “unlawfully discriminated” towards Van Vooren by refusing to accommodate her incapacity.
In keeping with the officer’s report, Salah seated Van Vooren and Mooney however blocked them once they tried to go the buffet to succeed in the restroom.
Salah then instructed Van Vooren she couldn’t stay within the restaurant with Mooney.
Van Vooren took out her mobile phone and recorded Salah telling her to depart, proof the officer mentioned supported her claims of discrimination.
“Particularly, the violation stemmed from the truth that despite the fact that Ms. Van Vooren was a disabled particular person accompanied by a service animal, (Saleh and Oasis) refused to accommodate her request to make use of the restaurant’s restroom and presumably the usage of its buffet desk,” the report acknowledged.
Salah instructed the fee that his actions had been based mostly on meals security considerations, citing well being division rules.
However the Lexington-Fayette County Well being Division explicitly permits service animals in eating areas, together with close to buffets.
The officer rejected Salah’s rationalization, writing that he “didn’t present any indicators of regret” throughout testimony.
“In truth, he expressed the alternative perspective, in that he didn’t suppose he needed to be good to somebody who was making a scene in his restaurant.”
Salah tried to argue he had denied entry solely to Mooney, not Van Vooren herself. The officer known as that “a distinction with out a distinction,” ruling that excluding a service animal is equal to excluding the particular person.
Raymond Sexton, government director of the Human Rights Fee, mentioned the case underscored the protections afforded to disabled Kentuckians.
“This can be a important victory for the Fee and Ms. Van Vooren, whose solely transgression that day was desirous to get pleasure from a pleasant lunch whereas accompanied by her service canine,” Sexton mentioned in a press release.
“This case is a stark reminder that disabilities are available in many types, each seen and unseen. Our anti-discrimination legal guidelines exist to make sure that everybody (together with the incapacity group) has equal entry to employment, housing and public lodging and our workplace will vigorously implement them.”
The $25,000 effective was deemed acceptable by the listening to officer given the intentional nature of the violation.
Van Vooren didn’t instantly touch upon the choice.
Salah additionally didn’t reply to a request for remark.
After Van Vooren filed her criticism, one other buyer, Danielle Burton, filed a separate criticism in June 2024. Burton, who’s visually impaired and makes use of a seeing-eye canine named Violet, alleged that Salah additionally denied her entry to the buffet.
That criticism stays pending.
The officer’s report emphasised that beneath Kentucky legislation and Lexington ordinances, eating places should accommodate service animals.
Federal legislation beneath the People with Disabilities Act additionally protects entry to public areas for individuals with service canine.
The fee formally adopted the officer’s ruling on Sept. 15. Salah has 30 days to attraction the choice to Fayette Circuit Court docket.
The fee’s order requires Oasis to pay Van Vooren $25,000 in damages. The ruling didn’t point out whether or not additional penalties might be imposed in Burton’s separate case.
The report detailed how Salah resisted compliance even throughout proceedings, reiterating that he believed he was justified. That defiance contributed to the dimensions of the effective, the officer famous.
