Disabled veteran sues State College, business after he and his service dog were turned away
A disabled veteran alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that a business inside the Nittany Mall and State College violated a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability when they turned him, his service dog and his family away.
Christopher C. Taylor, 70, alleged the February interaction with a K n B’s Inflatables Please employee and a borough police officer left him and his family “humiliated.”
The borough declined comment Wednesday. Messages left with the business were not immediately returned.
Taylor, an Army combat veteran of the Vietnam War who has a degenerative joint disease, claimed in the 11-page lawsuit that he and his family were told his Labrador retriever Zeke couldn’t join them because the indoor play center’s insurance didn’t provide coverage for dogs.
The employee, the lawsuit alleged, also said other customers may have allergies.
Taylor attempted to explain the situation to State College police officer Amanda Estep, but that was of little use. Estep told Taylor she was “not there to discuss or debate the issue,” attorney Andrew Carson wrote.
She was also alleged to have said the business had the right to exclude people from its premises for any reason and that Taylor would be arrested and charged if he tried to enter the business again.
The borough, Carson wrote, “clearly failed to train its officers” on the rights of citizens under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Legally speaking, the Defendant’s actions, acting through its police department, are no different than threatening to arrest a person of color for lawfully attempting to enter a business,” Carson wrote. “Times have changed, and so must the Defendant’s policies.”
Taylor, of Spring Township, is seeking unspecified damages and a requirement that the business and the borough implement training programs.
This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 10:22 AM.