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Rude treatment of customer can spark ADA lawsuit

By Mindy Chapman, Esq., Mindy Chapman & Associates
2/15/2008 - 12:30pm
ADA

Mindy Chapman, Esq., Mindy Chapman & Associates

Mindy is a nationally recognized authority in EEO laws and is a contributing editor to the HR Specialist: Employment Law monthly newsletter. She is highly regarded for her workplace compliance training that “clicks and sticks,” because it is practical and memorable. She is also the coauthor of the American Bar Association’s bestseller and authority on civil rights training, “Case Dismissed! Taking Your Harassment Prevention Training to Trial."

The Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) has recognized Mindy as one of its Top Ten Speakers nationally. She has trained extensively in all industries at all levels of the workforce—from boardroom executives to managers and supervisors and to hourly employees in union and non-union environments.

View all articles by Mindy Chapman, Esq., Mindy Chapman & Associates

Sometimes employees get frustrated. Sometimes they even act rudely. But a new ruling highlights a legal risk you may not have thought about: Employee’s rude treatment can quickly turn into an ADA lawsuit if the customer is disabled. A New York court last week called the problem a “failure to train” case:

Case in Point: Alice Camarillo is legally blind. She can only read large type that’s close to her face. She frequents fast food restaurants near her home, including a Taco Bell, Burger King, McDonalds and Wendy’s. She has informed employees at the restaurants that she is legally blind and unable to read the menus.

When she’s asked employees to read the menus to her, Camarillo claimed she was “made fun of, stared at and forced to wait until other customers behind her in line were served.” Even then, she said, employees responded with annoyance and only read parts of the menu.

Camarillo filed an ADA lawsuit, claiming that the failure to provide large print menus violated the ADA. A lower court dismissed her case on the grounds that employees always read the menus to her and she was never turned away from the restaurants.

But Camarillo filed an appeal taking a different approach: that the restaurants failed to train their employees in the proper handling of disabled employees. Thus, they didn’t take necessary steps to make sure customers aren’t treated different due to their disabilities. (Camarillo v. Carrols Corporation, 2nd Cir., 2/8/08)

How did this case end … and what lessons can be learned?

The restaurants argued that they weren’t liable because the ADA doesn’t protect against rude and insensitive employees. However, the appeals court rejected that defense and sent the case to trial, saying this was more than just an issue of rudeness:

“Rather, defendants failed to adopt policies or procedures to effectively train their employees how to deal with disabled individuals. Such a failure to train can constitute a violation of the ADA, which requires owners of public accommodations …’to take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that no individual with a disability is excluded, denied services, segregated or otherwise treated differently than other individuals.’”

3 Lessons Learned …Without Going to Court

1. Don’t let training slide. To avoid liability, all employees need to be effectively trained on anti-discrimination laws. “Failure to train” lawsuits are growing as courts look to employers training programs for compliance under federal laws.

2. Customer service is about compliance, too. While good customer service is always a best practice, this case shows it also has big legal consequences. As part of training, teach practical skills that all employees can use when interacting with customers and co-workers with disabilities.

3. Extend your policy to third parties. Remember, as a best practice, that your anti-discrimination policy doesn’t apply only to your employees. It also applies to third parties, including customers, clients, vendors, etc. Communicate that throughout the organization.

Tags: ada, customer service, customers, employees, hr

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