A restaurant that refused a blind man entry because a waiter thought his seeing-eye dog was "gay" has been ordered to apologise and pay compensation. Ian Jolly was reportedly told he could not take guide dog Nudge into Adelaide's Thai Spice last May because a member of staff objected. The owners of the restaurant claim it was a misunderstanding, which arose when staff thought Jolly's dinner companion said she wanted to bring 'a gay dog' into the restaurant. In a statement to the South Australia's Equal Opportunity, the owners said: "The staff genuinely believed that Nudge was an ordinary pet dog which had been desexed to become a gay dog." The tribunal has ordered the restaurant to pay Jolly AU$1,500 dollars and offer him a written apology for discriminating against him on the grounds of disability. Jolly told the Sunday Mail he was happy with the result. "I just want to be like everybody else and be able to go out for dinner, to be left alone and just enjoy a meal," he said.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 28th April 2010 - 9:13am