"This is not a public place, it's a school."
Teacher quits after wife, guide dog denied access
Woman wasn't allowed to enter reception area
By CHERYL BAUSLAUGH
Brantford Expositor
Ontario, Canada
September 27, 2008
http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca:80/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1221968
A city woman says she was discriminated against because her guide dog was not allowed in the reception area of a local business.
Lynn Raloff, who is visually impaired, said she was asked to leave the reception area of the Sylvan Learning Centre on North Park Street Wednesday night when she arrived to wait for her husband Jeff, a teacher there.
Raloff said the owner, Margaret Mercer, asked her to sit in an outer waiting area instead.
Raloff explained that her dog was "a working dog" rather than a pet but she was told it made no difference.
"I was just so surprised and then so upset," Raloff said.
"She refused to listen to me and wanted me to be as far away from the teaching area as possible."
When Jeff Raloff found out about the situation, he protested and told his employer that it was illegal to deny access to his wife and her dog.
"When I saw her sitting out where she was, I wasn't too happy."
After arguing with Mercer for some minutes, Raloff, who was in his second week of employment, became increasingly angry and quit -- with one hour left in the class.
Contacted Friday, Mercer said she does not allow dogs in the school for safety reasons.
"It would be a liability issue," she said.
"We are not insured around having dogs."
Mercer said she also is worried that some of her students, who are as young as three, might be afraid of the dog or have allergies.
"Our kids come first," she said.
"This is not a public place, it's a school."
Mercer said Lynn Raloff was not asked to leave the building but just to move to an area that was farther away from the teaching space.
"It's not a human rights issue," she said.
"It's a dog issue."
But Afroze Edwards, communications officer for the Ontario Human Rights Commission, said that's not the case.
"There is a human rights protection in terms of access to services and facilities."
The issue of access also is covered in provincial law under the Blind Persons Rights Act, which says that guide dogs are permitted in places to which the public is permitted.
Edwards said that applies to all schools, public or private.
"The services are still services to the public," she said.
"People with disabilities who require a guide dog can't be discriminated against. We're not talking about a pet."
However, Edwards said Mercer did make an effort to accommodate Raloff by allowing her to sit in another area.
"In a sense, she was accommodated."
Lynn Raloff said she was made to feel like a second-class citizen.
"It's not appropriate to discriminate against a disabled person," she said.
"She has a public service. She can't refuse people with a dog."
Raloff said she worries that parents or students with guide dogs may run into similar difficulties at Sylvan.
"I don't want them to go through what I went through."
Mercer said she does have one visually impaired student but he doesn't have a dog.
She said she's not sure what she'd do if a student or parent had a guide dog, since her landlord does not allow dogs on the premises.
Lance Calbeck, who owns the building, said that's not true.
"I have no idea where she heard that," he said Friday. "It certainly didn't come from me."
Calbeck said he was surprised to hear that Mercer was reluctant to allow a guide dog in the school.
"I thought it was required under provincial law."
Mercer said guide dogs aren't used at W. Ross Macdonald School for the Blind either.
John Howe, vice-principal of the secondary division, said that's no longer the case.
Guide dogs have been allowed in the school for the last five years, although only for senior students.
"We realized that for some of our students who were going to get dogs after they left us it would be good to get used to the responsibility of working with the dog."
This year, the school has two students and one instructor who have guide dogs.
Mercer maintains that she didn't do anything wrong by asking Raloff and her dog to sit in the outer foyer, away from classrooms where students were working.
"It's a tempest in a teapot," she said. Mercer said the request had nothing to do with Raloff's visual impairment. "She would not have been (asked) if she didn't have a dog."
The part that gets me is where the Human Rights Commission officer said that "in a sense, she was accommodated." I really, really hope this was taken out of context. Emotionally, there's no difference if you're asked to leave (or to sit in a segregated area) "because of the dog" or "because we just don't like blind people." Admittedly, I haven't experienced the latter.
Woman wasn't allowed to enter reception area
By CHERYL BAUSLAUGH
Brantford Expositor
Ontario, Canada
September 27, 2008
http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca:80/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1221968
A city woman says she was discriminated against because her guide dog was not allowed in the reception area of a local business.
Lynn Raloff, who is visually impaired, said she was asked to leave the reception area of the Sylvan Learning Centre on North Park Street Wednesday night when she arrived to wait for her husband Jeff, a teacher there.
Raloff said the owner, Margaret Mercer, asked her to sit in an outer waiting area instead.
Raloff explained that her dog was "a working dog" rather than a pet but she was told it made no difference.
"I was just so surprised and then so upset," Raloff said.
"She refused to listen to me and wanted me to be as far away from the teaching area as possible."
When Jeff Raloff found out about the situation, he protested and told his employer that it was illegal to deny access to his wife and her dog.
"When I saw her sitting out where she was, I wasn't too happy."
After arguing with Mercer for some minutes, Raloff, who was in his second week of employment, became increasingly angry and quit -- with one hour left in the class.
Contacted Friday, Mercer said she does not allow dogs in the school for safety reasons.
"It would be a liability issue," she said.
"We are not insured around having dogs."
Mercer said she also is worried that some of her students, who are as young as three, might be afraid of the dog or have allergies.
"Our kids come first," she said.
"This is not a public place, it's a school."
Mercer said Lynn Raloff was not asked to leave the building but just to move to an area that was farther away from the teaching space.
"It's not a human rights issue," she said.
"It's a dog issue."
But Afroze Edwards, communications officer for the Ontario Human Rights Commission, said that's not the case.
"There is a human rights protection in terms of access to services and facilities."
The issue of access also is covered in provincial law under the Blind Persons Rights Act, which says that guide dogs are permitted in places to which the public is permitted.
Edwards said that applies to all schools, public or private.
"The services are still services to the public," she said.
"People with disabilities who require a guide dog can't be discriminated against. We're not talking about a pet."
However, Edwards said Mercer did make an effort to accommodate Raloff by allowing her to sit in another area.
"In a sense, she was accommodated."
Lynn Raloff said she was made to feel like a second-class citizen.
"It's not appropriate to discriminate against a disabled person," she said.
"She has a public service. She can't refuse people with a dog."
Raloff said she worries that parents or students with guide dogs may run into similar difficulties at Sylvan.
"I don't want them to go through what I went through."
Mercer said she does have one visually impaired student but he doesn't have a dog.
She said she's not sure what she'd do if a student or parent had a guide dog, since her landlord does not allow dogs on the premises.
Lance Calbeck, who owns the building, said that's not true.
"I have no idea where she heard that," he said Friday. "It certainly didn't come from me."
Calbeck said he was surprised to hear that Mercer was reluctant to allow a guide dog in the school.
"I thought it was required under provincial law."
Mercer said guide dogs aren't used at W. Ross Macdonald School for the Blind either.
John Howe, vice-principal of the secondary division, said that's no longer the case.
Guide dogs have been allowed in the school for the last five years, although only for senior students.
"We realized that for some of our students who were going to get dogs after they left us it would be good to get used to the responsibility of working with the dog."
This year, the school has two students and one instructor who have guide dogs.
Mercer maintains that she didn't do anything wrong by asking Raloff and her dog to sit in the outer foyer, away from classrooms where students were working.
"It's a tempest in a teapot," she said. Mercer said the request had nothing to do with Raloff's visual impairment. "She would not have been (asked) if she didn't have a dog."
The part that gets me is where the Human Rights Commission officer said that "in a sense, she was accommodated." I really, really hope this was taken out of context. Emotionally, there's no difference if you're asked to leave (or to sit in a segregated area) "because of the dog" or "because we just don't like blind people." Admittedly, I haven't experienced the latter.