Ye’s Buffet apologizes for service dog discrimination, patrons ask for more action

A local woman, Isabel Lomoth, says her sister with disabilites faced discrimination at Ye's Buffet — for having a service dog.

She says the restaurant did not accept the digital version of her sister's doctor's note, which was saved onto her phone. The sisters were asked to come back with a physical doctor's note to enter with the service dog. Eventually, with a physical note and some police involvement, they were finally let in, and seated nearby another family with a service dog. But the discrimination didn't end there — Lomoth says the servers proceeded to treat them all with disrespect.

“They would slam the food down on our table, they would act disgusted by our dogs, they would tiptoe around the dogs like they were dirty garbage.”

Lomoth says they would chase them with cleaning sprays every time they got up to go the bathroom. She says attendants even mopped the floors behind the sisters when they got up to leave the restaurant.

“We stood outside the building a little bit, talking and they were spraying the front entrance where the glass doors are and the woman who was doing it was staring at us nasty like 'oh yeah I'm doing this because you guys are nasty and gross.'”

Mandi Lei, co-owner of Ye's Buffet, says they have to be cautious because of other guests' needs.

“We used to take service dogs with no problem but we had a few issues with animal fur, for allergies in other guests.”

However, another customer, Emmy Porter, says Isabel's case is not an isolated incident.

She says she was denied service at Ye's Buffet even though she had a doctor's note. She says her dog was wearing a vest and was clearly identified as a service animal.

“So I called the police and talked to someone who came in 15 minutes to talk to them. She basically said the same things that I did and they did not listen.”

A third woman, Caitlin Leandres, says she was discriminated against for needing a service dog over a year ago, in August 2019.

“I said to her [the attendant], 'This is a service animal and he is legitimate in Ontario. I have a medical letter from my doctor, stating that I require a service animal for my medical disabilities,' and I offered to show it to her. She said yes, took it, read it over and said, 'sorry, guide dogs only.'”

Leandres says she was finally allowed to get seated before she called the police — but she felt like she was being segregated in the restaurant.

“They tossed me and my service animal into the back corner of the restaurant, where nobody was seated. That's also a violation because you're not supposed to segregate disabled people. I was a little too upset to eat.”

She says she has not gone back since, and will not be returning anytime soon.

“To be honest, I felt really humiliated. It's really hard for me to be out in public in general because I have a severe neurological condition. The whole thing was so degrading for me.”

Porter says she may consider going back if the restaurant did more to prevent future incidents of discrimination.

“I don't think many changes have been made but if they did, I don't see why not. Everyone makes mistakes. The fact that it took them so long to notice upsets me.”

Lei says they have taken steps to educate staff members.

“The meaning of the service dog is much broader than we thought before and we cannot make decisions just by the first sight or the first thought.”

Porter says she never received an apology from the restaurant.

“I know two people who did get a message but I wasn't one of them. This is even though I made it very clear that I also had a problem and gave them a date and everything. But I was never contacted by them.”

Lomoth says the restaurant has posted an apology but she doesn't feel it was genuine, because the apology came only after her Facebook post got over 250 shares.

“Like a lot of the comments are saying on the apology, they're only sorry because this was taken public and the impact it has had on their business. They're not actually sorry for the experience that happened to us.”

According to the AODA, a service dog needs to be clearly identifiable, or the owner must have a doctor's note.

You can read Ye's Buffet's full apology online, on their Facebook page.

Emmy Porter is hoping to raise awareness around service dogs. You can learn more by following her service dog online @Bandit.theservicedog on Instagram.