by Marc Perrusquia
(Reprinted from "The Commercial Appeal," November 6, 2001.)
Shoney's and Captain D's restaurants have agreed in a court settlement to ensure that guide dogs and other service animals accompanying disabled customers are allowed into eateries, the government announced Monday.
The consent decree settles a lawsuit by Myrna Bell, a blind patron who was told last year by an employee in a Captain D's restaurant in Memphis that her guide dog could not remain on the premises. Captain D's is a subsidiary of Shoney's.
The defendants agreed to provide training to employees and to post signs in restaurant kitchens and entrances announcing that customers with service animals are welcome.
Bell also will receive $8,000.
The U.S. Department of Justice joined Bell in the suit.
"We are very interested in trying to enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act," said assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Vanasek. Federal lawyers here are working on a number of cases, he said.