Autism Service Dog Mom Punched by McD Manager

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As the owner of a working autism service dog this bothers me; I experience discrimination also but God help anyone who touches Orka my Newfoundland service dog! They'll be better off punching me. Until my lawyer gets involved.

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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20110722/D9OKL3VO2.html
Jul 22, 6:33 AM (ET), by Jeff Martin, Atlanta AP

Cops: McDonald's boss punches mom with service dog

ATLANTA (AP) - A McDonald's manager in the Atlanta area is accused of punching a mother after she brought her autistic children and a service dog inside the restaurant, authorities said.

Tiffany Denise Allen is charged with simple battery, simple assault and disorderly conduct, according to a Cobb County warrant.

Jennifer Schwenker entered the McDonald's in Marietta with her twins and service dog on July 12. Allen, who was off-duty at the time, became angry that the dog was inside, the warrant states. Police say Allen followed the mother around the restaurant, then punched her in the face in the parking lot.

Surveillance video shows McDonald's employees trying to restrain their co-worker, police wrote in the warrant.

J.M. and Jan Owens, who operate the store on Bells Ferry Road, said they're cooperating with police.

"At our McDonald's restaurant, we respect and value our customers. Their safety and well-being is always a top priority," they said in a statement to The Associated Press.

"We strive to comply with all applicable laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act," they said. "It is our policy to make our restaurants accessible to all customers, including those with disabilities and special needs, whether or not they need the assistance of service animals."

A phone listing for Allen could not be located. McDonald's officials say that she is no longer employed by the Oak Brook, Ill.-based company.

The videotape of this incident is on this site. The dog is a black lab with a service harness on and is well behaved. The McDonald's Manager is a raving violent lunatic.

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http://www.wsbtv.com/news/28626578/detail.html
7:28 pm EDT July 21, 2011

McDonald's Manager Accused Of Punching Customer
Off-Duty Manager Accused Of Hitting Mother

MARIETTA, Ga. -- An arrest warrant has been issued for the manager of a Marietta McDonald's after she punched a mother of two autistic boys in the face, Marietta police said.

It happened at the McDonald's on Bells Ferry Road, police said.

The manager, Tiffany Denise Allen, told the woman that the twin boys’ service dog, Barkley, wasn't allowed inside, police said. Allen was off duty.

The law, however, states that the dog is allowed inside.

The boys’ mother, Jennifer Schwenker, said the incident took place on July 12 when she took the boys to the McDonald's to have lunch.

Channel 2’s Diana Davis got her hands on a surveillance tape showing one of the twins and Barkley enjoying the restaurant’s play area.

The family was about to leave when Allen told them there were no dogs allowed, police said.

Schwenker explained that Barkley is a service dog, allowed by federal law in all public places including restaurants. Schwenker offered to provide proof of the permit for the dog, Marietta police said.

It wasn’t enough for Allen, they said. The tape shows her following the family around the McDonald's, even down the hall to the restroom.

When Schwenker tried to leave, she lost track of one of the boys. In a panic, she threw her drink on the floor and it splashed on Allen, police said.

The tape shows Allen running after Schwenker in a rage, police said. Marietta police Detective Gwen Lewis told Davis that she has never seen anything like it.

Schwenker did not want to speak to Davis about the incident, but her husband said they are talking to a lawyer.

Allen is charged with battery assault and disorderly conduct.

JM and Jan Owens, who run the store where the incident occurred, released a statement:
“At our McDonald’s restaurant, we respect and value our customers. Their safety and well-being is always a top priority.
"We strive to comply with all applicable laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. It is our policy to make our restaurants accessible to all customers, including those with disabilities and special needs, whether or not they need the assistance of service animals.
"We are fully cooperating with the police department in their investigation, and the individual involved is no longer employed by our company. ”

Autism is the target of huge amounts of abuse; in fact bullying is that #1 autism handicap. So of course autism service dogs are questioned more. Autism is an "invisible" disability unlike blindness or a wheelchair so ppl assume one is "normal" hence no need for a service dog.

Medical service dogs that alert for seizure panic or low-high blood sugar are also given a hard time and their owners challenged. Ppl just walk up and demand to be told all about one's disability. Very intrusive and rude.

The manager stalked the family, screamed at the mother, followed them into the bathroom yelling and threatening, then ran after them to their car and pummeled the mother in the face in front of her 2 little autistic sons. Those poor kids are going to need help recovering and processing this, and so will the dog.

WTF? It was obviously a service dog. Autism aside, any restaurant I ever worked at trained you about service dogs.

McD is going to be paying out a huge lawsuit sum to this woman.

You'd think with autism being epidemic that ppl would be more educated.

Wow, what a jerk. The Mickey D's employee was beyond out of line. No doubt, Mickey D's is going to have to pony up for this one. Plus I'm sure if he hasn't been fired yet, he's bound to be.

Yep, she's been fired.

Y'know what made me the maddest of all? When you look at the video, you can see the woman's holding her own little kid--maybe about three years old--the whole time she's getting in the mom's face. Way to teach your kid how to be accepting of others.

Yeah, the dog was a clearly marked service animal, and even on the surveillance video it was possible to see that the boys were autistic (not obvious to a non-autistic, maybe, but check out the way they are following their mom--falling behind, getting ahead, not at all socially coordinated--typical autistic walking pattern; if you compare to NTs, they will coordinate their movements when they walk together, and kids will either lengthen their steps or fall behind and then run to catch up alternately--these boys were just kind of moving in the same direction). Both the dog and the boys were well-behaved. Apparently after the manager started yelling at the mom, one of the boys went to the other end of the room (don't blame him) and the mom dropped her drink while looking for him, which set the manager off even worse. Considering she's trying to handle two boys and hold onto a dog's leash at the same time, I'm kind of surprised she held onto her drink that long.

I agree with the guidance given to UK courts and prosecutors that a crime of violence commited with children present is more serious. I think that this violence on the part of the McDonalds manager with children present (I suspect that both NT and AS kids were present) is very bad, it is bad example to the youth of our day.

It is also a hate crime, I think that the fact that children were present and that it was a hate crime should make this case attract a higher sentance than one man in a bar punching another random man.

_________________
Health is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity I am not a jigsaw, I am a free man !

Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.

This certainly fits the definition of HATE CRIME:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_crime

"In crime and law, hate crimes (also known as bias-motivated crimes) occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or political affiliation.[1]
A hate crime is a legal category used to described bias-motivated violence: "assault, injury, and murder on the basis of certain personal characteristics: different appearance, different color, different nationality, different language, different religion."[2]
"Hate crime" generally refers to criminal acts that are seen to have been motivated by bias against one or more of the types above, or of their derivatives. Incidents may involve physical assault, damage to property, bullying, harassment, verbal abuse or insults, or offensive graffiti or letters (hate mail).[3]
A hate crime law is a law intended to prevent bias-motivated violence. Hate crime laws are distinct from laws against hate speech in that hate crime laws enhance the penalties associated with conduct that is already criminal under other laws, while hate speech laws criminalize speech.

We just had a similar incident here and it also involved a black lab. A woman brought her service dog to a CVS pharmacy and was told by an employee the dog wasn't allowed. The woman explained the dog was a service dog but was still asked to leave. Luckily, it didn't result in any violence but the employee was told by CVS' regional headquarters she has to allow service dogs in.

The CVS employee was under the impression the only time service dogs are allowed is when the customer is blind.
http://www.kfor.com/news/local/kfor-dru ... 2964.story
Above is a link to the story.

Wow! McD's had already been sued for $10 MILLION by a vet who was beaten by employees for having a service dog!

http://www.startribune.com/politics/720 ... urce=error
Disabled vet who inspired Franken sues McDonald's for $10 million