Image Credit: BC and Alberta Guide Dogs

A BC cafe has been ordered to pay $12,000 to a blind woman who was refused service because she had her guide dog with her.

According to a recent BC Human Rights Tribunal, Georgia Pike and her husband and guide dog Grainger entered Ooh-La-La Cafe in Vancouver Sept. 19, 2019 and were almost immediately told to leave.

“No dogs, take it outside,” the clerk, who she later learned was the owner, told her.

The Pikes tried to explain that she was blind and needed the dog and that guide dogs are a required accommodation. They alleged the owner told them he is “sensitive to dogs and did not want them in his restaurant,” according to the Aug. 9, 2023 tribunal decision.

The dog was clearly identified as a guide dog but they could not persuade the owners after a tense exchange. The Pikes left and got breakfast elsewhere before later filing the complaint.

At the tribunal, the owner, Lu James Li, tried to argue both that Pike was not blind and the dog she had in the restaurant was not a guide dog. He had to be stopped at the hearing from trying to make this claim because it was a “safe space” for Pike and invited Pike to file another complaint on that basis. Pike had already tendered plenty of evidence that she is “severely” blind, that the dog was registered and that they owned no other dogs in this time period.

Pike was only four years blind at the time of the incident and was just getting used to both her dog and navigating the world outside her home before the incident.

“Ms Pike… felt demeaned and helpless because even though there are laws to protect her against discrimination, they did not protect her on that day” and made her feel “small and overwhelmed”, the tribunal heard.

The tribunal landed on a $12,000 penalty that must be paid by either Li or the company that operates the restaurant.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Marshall Jones or call 250-718-2724 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.

News from © iNFOnews, 2023