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In my completely uninformed opinion, I feel bad for this little girl, but she and her mom can choose to see a different Santa. Santa cannot choose to stop being allergic to dogs.
Better yet, why doesn't someone just tell her that Santa is fake? She'd get over this real fast. "Dear, there are different Santas at different malls, some are allergic, some aren't. Let's go find a non-allergic Santa." She'd figure it out. Hopefully.
That is what she tried to do but they wouldn't let her. The dog needs to be able to see the child in case a seizure is about to start but the Santa staff wanted the dog far away. It wasn't about having the dog with Santa for a photo op.
So many are missing that part. No reason the dog couldn't have been within a reasonable distance, still able to see her, while she got her picture.
Accommodation for Santa: Dog is at a distance, where chances of contact with the dogs saliva/dander/urine are very minimal and unlikely. Will not be made to come in physical contact with dog.
Accommodation for Girl: Dog is within the recommended distance and able to see her. This allows him to still properly perform his role as a service dog.
My in laws use to work with a woman who had severe sensitivity/allergies to scented parfumes and deodorants. One of there coworkers found her slumped over at her desk and she was rushed to the hospital. they all decided that the office would be a parfume, deodorant, hairspray, scents free environment for her. It was a large office too. So kudos to them for looking out for her.
Regarding other posters in this thread: I’m wondering why people respond without reading the article or google it. It’s quite clear that the girl needs her dog 24/7 and the mother was only asking for the dog to be in sight of the girl. No where near the Santa.
It's not quite clear that the dog never leaves her side. Actually, it's pretty doubtful the dog doesn't leave her side ever. I'm sure he's almost always near her, but is she holding his leash 24/7? Unlikely. Does she cheerlead (as it says in the article) on a regular team with the dog right at her side? Or maybe he's just to the side of the track or basketball court or wherever she is, watching her. Mom says she needs to be in his sight, which means she can leave the dog's side. Reading this article, it sounds like the mom did move the dog from the carpet, he was off to the side, and that the girl did take a photo, or at least could have but wouldn't? Either way, she said she did move the dog but does not specify whether the dog could still see the child.
What people are missing is that she has NO absolute right to do whatever she wants, wherever she wants to, with the dog, no matter what. She is entitled to reasonable accommodations in public places and for people to not discriminate against her BECAUSE of her disability. In these circumstances, especially if the dog does not have to remain at her side all the time and may be within sight of her, reasonable accommodations could be that the dog is feet away, watching her, while she takes a photo with Santa for a couple minutes. Most reasonable parents who know that the dog may be away from her as long as he could see her would be okay with this. The mother says in the article I linked that the girl wanted the dog in the photo... oh well, we can't always get what we want. Not even because we have service dogs. The ADA does not allow disabled people to get whatever they want, it allows reasonable accommodations for their disabilities, and as long as the dog could see her from where he stood, which is what he apparently requires, that sounds reasonable to me.
I think there would be a violation here if the dog could not see the child as he needs to and employees did not accommodate her in that sense. But whether that's what happened is unclear from the articles. An ADA analysis is very fact based, it's not as simple as "she gets the dog at her side in the photo period."
Side note, the dog is adorable. Look at his smile in the picture in the article I linked.
It wouldn't surprise me if mom's odd behavior is the real reason the daughter claims to believe in Santa. The 10-year-old might be pacifying a mother who won't let her grow up.
It wouldn't surprise me if mom's odd behavior is the real reason the daughter claims to believe in Santa. The 10-year-old might be pacifying a mother who won't let her grow up.
Her 9-year-old brother said that, because of the kerfuffle, he no longer believes in Santa Claus. Maybe his sister will follow suit
Yes, the dog is adorable. And he could have done his job watching her from the front of the line--just as he watches her while she's cheerleading, and as he was watching her while her mom was creating a scene in the mall.
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.
Seems pretty cut and dry here.
Based on the highlighted portion, it appears to be addressing a situation where a person with an allergy is in the same location as the service dog. It doesn't appear to address the issue where the service provider is by the nature of the service provided, required to be in contact with the dog owner.
From the ADA:
Quote:
VI. Reaction/Response of Others
Allergies and fear of dogs are not valid reasons for denying access or refusing service to people using service animals. If employees, fellow travelers, or customers are afraid of service animals, a solution may be to allow enough space for that person to avoid getting close to the service animal.
Most allergies to animals are caused by direct contact with the animal. A separated space might be adequate to avoid allergic reactions.
If a person is at risk of a significant allergic reaction to an animal, it is the responsibility of the business or government entity to find a way to accommodate both the individual using the service animal and the individual with the allergy.
The highlighted portions seem to make it clear that a Santa with a dog allergy doesn't have to allow the child with the dog to sit on his lap.
Alternate accommodations were offered, and declined, correct?
The girl has Rett syndrome. That would explain the believing in Santa at age 10, the seizures, and the need for a service animal, etc. etc. That is a hard diagnosis, and I feel for her, and I also want to be on the mom's side, but here is where the mom loses me:
Quote:
"I don't want to take her to Caring Santa. I want her to have a NORMAL experience. She is on a NORMAL cheerleading team. With NORMAL children. Like, we want to make sure that she feels completely comfortable with going wherever she wants at whatever time she wants."
Caring Santa is a separate Santa event at the same mall, designed specifically to cater to the needs of special needs kids.
The emphasis on 'NORMAL' is hers. This leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. The subtext is that the Caring Santa event is for abnormal little freaks, and her kid is NORMAL and shouldn't be forced to attend the ABNORMAL kids' separate Santa event.
Well, lady, you can't have your cake and eat it too. If your daughter is, like, so NORMAL that she's on a NORMAL cheerleading squad, then she most likely doesn't have to have her service dog so rigidly close, the way that you are claiming she does. And if she DOES need the dog that rigidly close during each and every single one of the 86,400 seconds in a day, then guess what? Maybe your daughter isn't, like, so NORMAL. Maybe she'd be better off at the Caring Santa event.
The mall wasn't asking her to leave the premises, and they weren't telling her to leave the line for Santa, they were telling her to get the dog off the red carpet. I'm guessing that other kids through the years (blind kids, etc. etc.) with service dogs have been asked to do the same, and have been willing to comply.
And are you saying that people with (service animal-dependent) disabilities should restrict their lives, just in case someone is allergic? So a blind person with a guide dog should stay home 24/7, since they can't be independently mobile without that animal? Talk about lacking empathy and understanding.
Actually, before they can get a seeing eye dog, blind people must be able to demonstrate that they can travel independently using the white cane so, no, not having a dog does not mean a blind person won't be able to be mobile. I know more blind folks who don't use dogs than do. I've only met 2 who use them out of the dozens I have met in the past 25 years. I dated 3 guys who had differing levels of legal blindness including totally blind, and none of them used dogs, but they all were perfectly capable of independent travel.
And it isn't the same. The child had a right to have her service dog with her. That's the law. Go read it.
If you have serious allergies than you wouldn't take the stance you did on the sorority house. Because anyone with serious allergies knows taking a pill or just getting used to it, isn't possible. You would know the misery it causes the allergy sufferer to be around dogs or cats.
The mother is an arrogant woman who got nasty right from the start, than ran home and posted about on Facebook rather than properly address it.
Probably looking for a "payday" in the land of the easily offended.
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