'It‘s Not About Tacos. It’s About Your Rights'. Patron Drives Home Her Point - By John Hendrie

Literally, that is what happened at a Taco Bell in Elkhart, Indiana.  Reportedly, a Ms. Amber Harvey was refused service at the drive thru window, because she was driving her wheelchair rather than an automobile.  Taking umbrage, she decided to make a clear statement of what she saw as discrimination.  She revved up her wheelchair and, in reverse, spirited the wheelchair into the Taco Bell front door, smashing the glass.  The police were summoned and cited her for criminal mischief and vandalism. 

She had no remorse for her actions.  As local media reported, Ms. Harvey was teaching Taco Bell a lesson about discriminating against people with disabilities.  The company held to their policy.  "To ensure the safety of our customers and Team Members, we restrict service at our drive-thru window locations to motor vehicles that are licensed and registered for highway use…”  Apparent standoff.

In a Blog last month, I discussed another Taco Bell incident, which also featured the Drive Thru operation, an irate customer, and resultant damage.  At that restaurant in Albany, GA a customer felt that the XXL Chalupa Burrito he/she ordered was light on the meat, a call was made to the restaurant, threats were made by the patron, and sure enough a few hours later the Drive Thru area was fire-bombed.

Different types of incidents, hazardous duty at those Drive Thru Windows, seriously mad and motivated  customers, damage incurred and, of course, Taco Bell news made and carried all over the globe.  The PR department and publicists are earning their pay with reputation damage control.

With the wheelchair incident, I think we all see the reasonableness of the Taco Bell policy, if indeed it is practiced consistently across the chain.  Certainly, foot traffic, bicycles, skate boards cause alarm and possible injury.  I do not know how they look at motorcycles, motor bikes or scooters, but they should be covered as a licensed motor vehicle, one would think.  A wheelchair would not quite fall in this category, although it may be motorized and has wheels.  The message about disabilities in general and discriminatory practices is a whole other matter, and the messenger, Ms. Harvey, carried that quite demonstrably.

We know there are laws and building requirements to accommodate all types of disability, and you would think restaurant companies, no matter the Brand, would be compliant with their design, serving the public and all constituencies.  No matter the effort, there will be protests and accommodation requests.  This goes with the territory.  However, it is surprising that in a complementary article out of California, we learn that a Federal Judge has ruled that Taco Bell will need to modify over 220 restaurants in the state to meet disability requirements, such as the serving line, bathrooms, signage, table and front door designs.

Most likely other fast food establishments are watching to see how this legal imbroglio works out.  Modifications do cost money and may be a temporary disruption for business.  But, that is certainly better than having citizens express their outrage in the fashion of Ms. Harvey in Indiana or the arsonist in Georgia.  Plus, all the bad PR.  With everything else going on in the world and within our communities, folks are getting angry and impatient.  We see it every day.  Best to remove the impediments and excuses for such extraordinary expressions to make a point!

 


Logos, product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

Reader Comments:

Be the first to leave a comment for this article

Tweet