FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February
19, 2002
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Human Rights Commission reached a settlement
agreement in the disability discrimination case of Margaret Wyse v. Zuni Café,
dba Le Matin LLC.
In
November 1999 Ms. Wyse filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission
claiming that the owner of the restaurant, Abbas Larian, discriminated against
her because of her disability. Ms.
Wyse claimed that she entered Larian’s restaurant at 890 E. High St. to meet a
friend for lunch but was denied seating and service because of her service
animal. The Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog, or
other animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a
disability.
After
investigation, the Commission staff issued a determination on March 12, 2001,
that there was probable cause to believe that an act of unlawful discrimination
occurred. After unsuccessful attempts at conciliation, the matter was set for
public hearing on September 12, 2001. The parties reached a settlement agreement
prior to the public hearing. Per
the terms of the settlement, the owner agreed to pay Ms. Wyse
$1000.00. In addition, the
owner agreed to provide services to disabled persons with service animals,
attend disability awareness training sessions with his staff, and add an equal
opportunity restaurant statement to all advertisements.
###