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Thoughts on whatever timely topic comes to mind.

August 02, 2010

Restaurant Violates ADA Law?

Did you know that, if you play your cards right, you can get free money for being a bit inconvenienced because of a handicap?  Being what some call “disabled,” I knew a little about that, of course.  But I had forgotten some of it. 

Ben Conery, writing for The Washington Times, reminded me about that in his article “Chipotle in violation of disabilities act” this morning. 

Apparently there’s a paraplegic college professor out near San Diego who “has an extensive history of filing ADA-related lawsuits” and didn’t like how high the counters are at Chipotle restaurants because it’s a problem for him “choosing from among the ingredients lining the counter and watching staff assemble the meal” while sitting in a wheelchair.  Therefore, he wants the restaurant chain to remodel their business to conform to his special needs.  So, as reported:

“The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that two restaurants in San Diego violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because the counters where the staff prepared tacos and burritos were too high and blocked the view for people in wheelchairs.”

Well now, let’s see how that works for me.  My neck and spine are frozen.  Yeah, all of it.  I can’t look up and I can’t look down.  Oh, and I cannot see all that well, either.

As many might know, most fast food joints have their menus high up, behind the counters.  See what I’m getting at yet?  I cannot see the menus that are placed high behind the counters.  Sometimes I can see the pictures, but in no case can I read the words – or the prices.  So, according to this whining professor, and the ever silly, often overturned, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, I have been wronged!  Legally.

Yuppers, under the ADA I can sue any and all of these restaurants and not only get them to change the way they do business but also make them pay me money.  Cool, eh? 

Now, I can’t really say exactly where I would like them to place their menus so it would be comfortable for me.   But that doesn’t really matter.  I don’t have to redesign their facility to make me comfortable.  All I have to do is whine that the present design is unworkable for me.  And no, under the silly ADA laws, it also doesn’t matter that the current design is just fine for 98% of the population, either.  I can “get paid” anyway, simply because it’s difficult for me to choose an order in those places. 

Of course, I would never do such a thing.  But I’ve just been reminded that the current federal law is such that I could.  Better yet, the federal government would even provide me with a free lawyer, if I so desired.

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Retired medical research scientist and clinical engineer and sometimes political campaign volunteer. Presently writing political commentary -- and starting to dabble in fiction. Interests include politics, alternative medicine, photography, and communications.