“I just want to make sure no one with a service animal endures what I did that day. Oliva said he’s now worried the police will arrest or threaten to arrest him when he is with Forte. “Civil rights are severely weakened when police departments treat blind shoppers as trespassers based on a store’s discriminatory desire to have them removed for using a guide dog. When this happens, shoppers are doubly discriminated against, first, by the stores, and then, by the police departments that fail to respect and uphold rights we guarantee to our blind citizenry,” said Chris Hodgson, lead attorney on the case. “The WSPD should have known better than to forcibly threaten to arrest a blind shopper for simply using their guide dog, as they did to Mr. Additionally, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires public entities like WSPD to ensure that its policies and practices do not discriminate against people with disabilities who rely on service animals, including guide dogs.
In fact, North Carolina law makes it a misdemeanor to deny access to someone with a service animal. Service animals are permitted in public places like malls and retail stores under federal and state law. When DRNC contacted the City of Winston-Salem after the incident, the City defended its actions, and cited a policy of trespassing shoppers based on the demand of a store manager, even if the store’s demands violate the rights of blind shoppers to be accompanied by their guide dogs.
Oliva that police would charge him with trespassing if he ever returned, effectively banning him from shopping at the store. Oliva complied with the officers’ order to leave. Instead, WSPD gave him an ultimatum: leave the store with a trespass warning, or be arrested, handcuffed and taken to jail. Oliva went to the store, Jimmy Jazz, at Hanes Mall the day after Thanksgiving 2020, hoping to take advantage of holiday sales. Oliva to leave the store or face arrest for trespassing. Oliva had the right to have his guide dog with him, WSPD forced Mr. Even though mall security agree d that Mr. During a visit to Hanes Mall in November 2020, a retail store manager sought to have Wilmer Oliva removed because he was accompanied by his guide dog, Forte.
The Winston – Salem Police Department (WSPD) violated well-established civil rights law when officers ordered a blind man to leave a store at Hanes Mall because of his guide dog, according to a lawsuit filed late yesterday by Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC). Blind Man and Guide Dog Forced to Leave Hanes Mall Store or Face Arrest
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