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July 21, 2008
Deaf woman sues over McDonald's snub
A deaf woman is suing McDonald's - because she reckons workers refused to let her order at a drive-through window.
Karen Tumeh of Lincoln, Nebraska, says workers insisted she either order at the electronic speaker along the drive-through lane or come inside to get her grub.
Tumeh wears a hearing aid but still cannot hear while using the drive-through ordering box.
She says workers at the McDonald's refused to let her place her order at the window At least three times since last September.
In denying her service, she said McDonald's violated the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.
Her lawsuit seeks to force McDonald's to make accommodations for deaf people to order food in restaurant drive-throughs.
She also seeks unspecified damages and attorney's fees.
"It's not appropriate for a hearing-impaired person to be forced to go inside because of their disability, when ... other drive-through, fast-food restaurants have a policy to allow deaf and hard-of-hearing people to order at the drive-through window," her attorney Shirley Ann Mora James said.
"We have attempted to resolve this on many occasions and have unfortunately been unable to resolve this. So we were forced into litigation."
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24033447-5006003,00.html
Posted by 4HL on July 21, 2008 11:54 PM
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