Advocacy Needed- Incident at CiCi's Pizza

October 21, 2007

October 21, 2007

Dearest Advocates:

Today, I received a very upsetting e-mail that I wanted to pass along to you in hopes that we will continue to work together to “educate” the community on our children and their rights!

Please take a moment to write a letter to CiCi’s Pizza regarding the below matter AND contact the Roswell local newspaper and AJC to help make this into a positive event to continue to educate our community we live!

E-mail Addresses for media: Roswell Neighbor Newspaper (nfulton@...), AJC Newspaper (newstips@..., letters@...).

Only through continuing to educate the public…… are we going to make a difference for our children and the success they have in the future. Please distribute this e-mail to as many people as possible.

UNITED… WE WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Sincerely,

Heidi

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Today, four of the developmentally disabled ladies we serve (L. , C. Eckman, A. Oakley, and D. Bentley) along with two female staff (Merle and Sharon ) went on a lunch outing to CiCi’s Pizza at the corner of Holcomb Bridge Road and Alpharetta Highway behind Stoney River Restaurant at 10516 Alpharetta Highway in Roswell, Georgia. Only one of those ladies served by EnAble was in a wheel chair.

They were followed in by another group of individuals in wheel chairs from another organization. One of the staff members of that group was male.

The owner of CiCi’s told me after I just visited there personally that his name was Ahmad. He refused to give me his last name. He told the ladies in our group they were taking too long placing their orders and had to leave. He felt that their presence would disturb his other customers. One of the clients had already paid and had moved through the line to get her salad. Our staff member requested that those who had paid for their food be reimbursed. They did get their money back.

Apparently the male staff member from the other group saw what was happening and got upset with the owner and swore at him. At no time did our two female staff members or any of our clients raise their voices or swear at the owner. The owner asked the other group to leave too. The owner called the police, who arrived as our group was leaving the restaurant. Our staff spoke with them, and the Roswell police told them the owner had the “right to refuse business to anyone he wanted, but no city ordinances had been violated.” Again, no one in our group was behaving badly, saying anything inappropriate, or yelling. While the owner may have thought the two groups were together, they were not.

Amy Hines, Sharon (who was there with the group earlier) and I went to visit the owner a few moments ago. He refused to answer my questions (even though I gave him my card and identified myself as the President and Executive Director of EnAble. He threatened to call the police once again. At no time were we rude or inconsiderate of this man in any way. I was just asking him for information and he refused to provide any help at all. He just wanted us out of there and was going to call the police. He kept talking about the man in our group who was swearing. We had no man in our group at all. No one in our group was swearing at the owner.

I wanted to let you know of this incident at CiCi’s in Roswell. For the staff receiving this e-mail, I am blind copying it to you and to several other people, including our Board of Directors. This is a serious violation of the rights of those we serve, in my opinion.

Our staff members took the ladies to another nearby Italian restaurant for pizza and they had a nice lunch outside on the patio of this restaurant. There they were greeted and treated with respect and dignity, as they deserved to be.

I’m not sure what our next steps should be in this, but certainly don’t think that I will ever give any of my money to another CiCi’s Restaurant!

For those interested in communicating with CiCi’s Pizza corporate headquarters, their address is as follows:

CiCi’s Pizza Corporate Headquarters

1080 West Bethel Road

Coppell, TX 75019

Phone: 972-745-4200

According to their corporate web site

Craig is the President of CiCi’s Pizza

is Vice President of Franchise Operations

Bird is Director of Corporate Operations

train@...; mkt@...; finformation@...;webmaster@...

Thanks for your help!

Colyer

P. S. If you feel it is worth passing this e-mail on to any of your personal e-mail distribution list, perhaps we can make our point felt more tangibly in this owner’s wallet.

A. Colyer President/Executive Director

EnAble of GA, Inc. (Formerly known as RRA)1200 Old Ellis Road l Roswell, Georgia 30076

Enabling individuals with developmental disabilities

to live full and independent lives in the community.

Office: 770.664.4347, Ext. 105

Fax: 770.740.0650

Cellular: 678.596.3577

E-mail: rcolyer@...Web Site: www.enablega.org

--Heidi J. (Proud Mother to - 7 years old with Down syndrome & - 5 years old) For more information about how Heidi can help you maximize your child's potential, please go to www.heidijmoore.com "Help The Children Now, So They Can Help Themselves Later!" The material contained in this e-mail is for general information only. It is not intended in any way to provide or offer legal advice. To obtain legal advice, please consult with your attorney or a qualified legal representative. For previous advocacy email's, please go to the following website: http://www.lgtinc.org/authors/41/Heidi-J.-. To see how you can advocate for your child go to www.kidshealthcarega.org.

October 22, 2007

The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination in public

accommodations, which includes restaurants. That’s not limited to

making restaurants wheelchair accessible, but also prohibits active

discrimination against patrons based on their disability. A lawsuit can

be filed for damages, injunctive relief and attorneys’ fees and

costs. Given the public policy issues involved in this incident,

it’s probably worth it to look into filing or threatening a lawsuit that

makes a public point. The monetary damages might be limited to the cost

of the meal, but the injunctive relief could provide a very high public profile

on the incident. I would definitely push this issue further, perhaps by

trying to contact the general counsel for Cici’s Pizza.

October 22, 2007