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Take a Zyrtec? Have you been around anyone with severe allergies? I have a family member who swells up and can't breathe if she is just within breathing distance of a cat. She has to use an Epi pen to breathe. It is not as easy for some as popping an over the counter allergy pill. Where do Santa's rights fit into all of this?
Santa would need to have a legally declared and catalogued disability that requires accommodation. Otherwise the girl wins, legally.
The 10-year-old wasn't allowed to have Romeo, her service dog, in the pic due to Santa's allergy. Mom was told to return with her daughter for a "Pet" day. She immediately took to Facebook to recount her "horrible" experience.
Have we all gone mad? This child couldn't be without the dog for 2 minutes? All the mother had to do was step aside with the dog, and wait while her kid, in full view of her, sat with Santa, and then had her picture taken. Then she could have snapped her own cell phone pic of her daughter and Romeo to memorialize the event.
Mom needs to get a grip. Her daughter can survive 2 minutes with the dog. What's do when the dog goes to the bathroom? Is she under it waiting to catch the poo? Presumably the girl sleeps....she has no idea what the dog is doing then.
I just want my kid to be normal, BUT I'm going to run to the media and whine when I can't get what I demand....because that's normal....IF you're a Kartrashian.
“I don’t want to take her to Caring Santa. I want her to have a normal experience. She’s on a normal cheerleading team with normal children. We want to make sure she feels completely comfortable going wherever she wants at whatever time she wants.”
Face lady. You're kid isn't normal. She walks around with a service dog because she has seizures. That's not normal! That's ok. But you need to realize that you're child isn't normal....she has a serious medical condition! And why does everyone need to be be able to go whenever they want or do whatever they want? Over here in the real world, there's plenty of things I can't do and places I can't go. I'm ok with that. It's called life.
[quote=Schmooky;50269631]Santa would need to have a legally declared and catalogued disability that requires accommodation. Otherwise the girl wins, legally. QUOTE]
Wrong.
The law requires reasonable accommodations. In addition, neither the dog nor the girl was denied access, and the girl wasn't denied service.. The dog was not allowed on the red carpet, and the mother refused to stand off to the side with the dog while her daughter visited with Santa. They're under no obligation to include the dog in a "Santa and Me" picture.
BTW, this isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened. A few years ago, Santa and his elf refused to allow an autistic girl's service pit bull to approach because they were afraid of the dog. The mother, in this case, too, refused to hold the dog while her child visited with Santa. She, too, caused a scene before making the social platform rounds. Like the Nashua case, the store decided on their own remedy: they fired Santa and the elf. That's their business as private entities.
There's a reason the gub-ment didn't get involved in that case, and isn't getting involved in the Nashua case. Reasonable accommodations...no denial of access [to see Santa]...no denial of service.
Status:
"Smartened up and walked away!"
(set 27 days ago)
11,785 posts, read 5,795,007 times
Reputation: 14208
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schmooky
Santa would need to have a legally declared and catalogued disability that requires accommodation. Otherwise the girl wins, legally.
Forget the legalities - let just try some common sense and good will towards others. An employer had allergies to certain perfumes - he never told us we couldn't wear any - but none of us did so his allergies wouldn't act up and we asked patients to refrain from wearing any to their appts.
People are too quick to go running to Facebook - with every little thing they take offense to. Pull your big boy and big girl pants up and act like caring adults.
People are too quick to go running to Facebook - with every little thing they take offense to.
Because they know now that there will be plenty of people who run to their cause. In this case, they are now getting a private visit from Santa to their home which will be paid for by the company who runs the mall operation. I'm surprised this lady didn't set up a gofundme to help repair the damage caused by the trauma of being turned away from Santa.
“I don’t want to take her to Caring Santa. I want her to have a normal experience. She’s on a normal cheerleading team with normal children. We want to make sure she feels completely comfortable going wherever she wants at whatever time she wants.”
This right here invalidates the mother's claim for me. If her daughter is on a "normal" cheerleading team with "normal" children (and what a horrible thing for a mother with a child with a disability to say!), then chances are really good that either the dog is not right there doing the cheers with them, or that no one else on that team thinks her daughter is "normal".
She was offered reasonable accommodation. She was offered alternatives. She didn't want them, she wants her daughter to be "normal" no matter how many hissy fits she has to throw to get it and no matter how humiliating it must be for her daughter to be the focus of them. Poor girl.
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 8 days ago)
35,631 posts, read 17,968,125 times
Reputation: 50655
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schmooky
Santa would need to have a legally declared and catalogued disability that requires accommodation. Otherwise the girl wins, legally.
Thankfully, that ship will have sailed in the next three weeks and this poor fellow who is allergic to dogs is on his merry way. No pun intended. ;D
We've gone a bit nuts as a society.
So. Let me ask this, about this dog.
He has the ability to "predict" seizures, not prevent them. If he is separated from this girl for 5 minutes, how will she suffer? Honestly? If he didn't predict a seizure when she was leaving for Santa's lap, even if she has a seizure on Santa's lap, how has she suffered from lack of his support?
It's not like he's connected to this child with a lifeline that prevents her from having seizures.
And this poor Santa guy. Gads. Can't we all just get along?
edited to add:
HONESTLY. This seems like the perfect time to teach empathy to these kids. "This Mall Santa actor would have loved to have posed for a picture with you, sweethearts, but he has a severe dog allergy. We don't want him to suffer. So we can go somewhere else or maybe just wish him a Merry Christmas and we'll have a different picture next year. Maybe take a pic with the dog and the two kids in front of a beautiful Christmas tree. How 'bout that".
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 8 days ago)
35,631 posts, read 17,968,125 times
Reputation: 50655
Quote:
Originally Posted by HighFlyingBird
Well the ADA disagrees with you...so...I guess tough crap for santa.
Really, do you feel that way? Tough crap for this poor guy posing as Santa? Forget what he will have to suffer, he's sitting in that chair next to this dog that will cause him to suffer an allergic attack, maybe to the point that he has to leave his station and can't see all the other kids in line?
Well the ADA disagrees with you...so...I guess tough crap for santa.
Actually, the ADA disagrees with you. As quoted earlier, which you have carefully ignored:
Quote: Allergies and fear of dogs are not valid reasons for denying access or refusing service to people using service animals. When a person who is allergic to dog dander and a person who uses a service animal must spend time in the same room or facility, for example, in a school classroom or at a homeless shelter, they both should be accommodated by assigning them, if possible, to different locations within the room or different rooms in the facility.
Quote: A person with a disability cannot be asked to remove his service animal from the premises unless: (1) the dog is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it or (2) the dog is not housebroken. When there is a legitimate reason to ask that a service animal be removed, staff must offer the person with the disability the opportunity to obtain goods or services without the animal’s presence.
Note that BOTH apply here: the mother was asked to keep the dog away from the Santa but the daughter could go to him, AND they were offered the opportunity to obtain goods or services without the animal's presence.
When the dog alerts to a seizure, what happens? What does the girl do? What does the mom do? What does the girl do if mom, or no one else, is around? Can the dog alert to an upcoming seizure, like an early warning system?
I ask, because I have no experience with epilepsy or seizure detecting dogs.
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