By Ellie Davis
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - A student here in the East is speaking out after saying he was discriminated against by an Uptown Greenville business for being visually impaired.
Landon Stevenson says being legally blind has challenged him since the third grade, and now, an Uptown Business in Greenville is doing the same, after denying him access as a customer, just because he has a service dog.
Stevenson said he visited Insomnia Cookies in Uptown Greenville on a Friday night earlier this month with his service dog Sean, like he's done numerous times before, but this time was different after an assistant manager denied him access, due to their no-pets policy.
The situation escalated as Stevenson refused to leave because of his legal right to bring his service animal, and the cops ended up being called, leaving Stevenson to defend his right to entry.
"With a service dog, I can get on planes, I can go into any business. anywhere that I am allowed my dog is allowed. This is the first time that the cops have been called. I mean I have been told I can't be placed before but usually someone will step up and say oh no, don't do that." Landon Stevenson said.
When asked about whether or not businesses have the right to contact law enforcement to remove someone and their service animal, Greenville Police shared in a statement "Anyone can, of course, legally call the cops if they have a concern but, in this case, an officer informed the employee that they cannot deny entry or service to someone with a service animal. These are Federal ADA requirements, not local laws. It's up to individual businesses to provide the proper training on these laws."
After additional officers had to be called to Insomnia, Stevenson says he hopes additional training is provided to law enforcement because the first officers on the scene weren't aware of the laws pertaining to service dogs.
"I'm hoping that when they call the police to report me that the police are going to show up and fight for my rights, and initially they didn't, and I had to request a sergeant and go through that so hopefully it doesn't happen again. So for other communities, it's important so that they can stand up for your rights when you get there." Stevenson said.
Stevenson says he has been in touch with the manager since he was removed from the business that night, and apologized, admitting that his staff was in the wrong, but says that it's still important that business' educate their employees on the law when it comes to service animals.
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act entities that have a "no pets" policy generally must modify the policy to allow service animals into their facilities.
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - A student here in the East is speaking out after saying he was discriminated against by an Uptown Greenville business for being visually impaired.
Landon Stevenson says being legally blind has challenged him since the third grade, and now, an Uptown Business in Greenville is doing the same, after denying him access as a customer, just because he has a service dog.
Stevenson said he visited Insomnia Cookies in Uptown Greenville on a Friday night earlier this month with his service dog Sean, like he's done numerous times before, but this time was different after an assistant manager denied him access, due to their no-pets policy.
The situation escalated as Stevenson refused to leave because of his legal right to bring his service animal, and the cops ended up being called, leaving Stevenson to defend his right to entry.
"With a service dog, I can get on planes, I can go into any business. anywhere that I am allowed my dog is allowed. This is the first time that the cops have been called. I mean I have been told I can't be placed before but usually someone will step up and say oh no, don't do that." Landon Stevenson said.
When asked about whether or not businesses have the right to contact law enforcement to remove someone and their service animal, Greenville Police shared in a statement "Anyone can, of course, legally call the cops if they have a concern but, in this case, an officer informed the employee that they cannot deny entry or service to someone with a service animal. These are Federal ADA requirements, not local laws. It's up to individual businesses to provide the proper training on these laws."
After additional officers had to be called to Insomnia, Stevenson says he hopes additional training is provided to law enforcement because the first officers on the scene weren't aware of the laws pertaining to service dogs.
"I'm hoping that when they call the police to report me that the police are going to show up and fight for my rights, and initially they didn't, and I had to request a sergeant and go through that so hopefully it doesn't happen again. So for other communities, it's important so that they can stand up for your rights when you get there." Stevenson said.
Stevenson says he has been in touch with the manager since he was removed from the business that night, and apologized, admitting that his staff was in the wrong, but says that it's still important that business' educate their employees on the law when it comes to service animals.
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act entities that have a "no pets" policy generally must modify the policy to allow service animals into their facilities.
Visually impaired man denied access to business because of service dog
A business in Uptown Greenville denied access to a customer, just because he had a service dog.
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