Encino Restaurant Sued After Refusing Entry to ‘Service Dog’

A disabled West Hills woman who said an Encino restaurant owner refused to serve her last month when she went inside with her licensed “service dog” filed suit against the restaurant Thursday, charging the owner with discrimination against the handicapped.

Sandy Oseas, 47, along with her attorney, Gloria Allred, and her dog, a 65-pound poodle named Landmark, sat outside the restaurant, World Famous Mr. Tamale’s Gourmet Mexicatessen, to announce the filing of the suit against the establishment and its owner, Louis Michael Tamale.

The victim of a spinal injury, Oseas has neurological difficulties, balance problems and only limited use of her legs.

Chamber of Commerce Mixer

She said she went to the restaurant June 10 to attend an Encino Chamber of Commerce mixer, with her husband, Allan, an employment consultant. She was accompanied by the specially trained Landmark, who is licensed as a service dog by the City of Los Angeles.

Oseas said Landmark pulls the wheelchair she uses much of the time, helps her walk up steps, and assists her in walking in and out of restrooms and her van.

When she entered the Ventura Boulevard restaurant, Oseas said, Tamale, 44, told her the dog was not allowed inside. When Oseas told Tamale that state law allows disabled persons to have service dogs in restaurants, she said Tamale told her, “I don’t care what the law says. I don’t want a dog in here with my tamales. I am not going to have a dog in my place.”

When she asked Tamale what he would do if a blind person walked in with a guide dog, she said Tamale replied, “I would sit you down, and then I would take the dog outside.”

Oseas, who said she was “humiliated and angered” by Tamale’s remarks, left the restaurant with Landmark, and stayed outside during the mixer.

Allred said Tamale’s case was important to disabled people who need service and guide dogs to help them lead independent lives.

“Restaurant owners must understand that persons with disabilities are entitled to live in the mainstream of society, and that canine companions such as Landmark are essential to the achievement of that goal for many people who are disabled,” Allred said.

The suit seeks an injunction against the restaurant to prohibit it from denying Oseas and Landmark service, Allred said. The suit also asks for unspecified damages and attorneys fees.

Restaurateur Not In

Allred led reporters to the restaurant to confront Tamale, but employees told her he was not there. Later, he could not be reached for comment.

Allred has been involved in several lawsuits alleging restaurant bias, including a 1983 case concerning two lesbians who were not allowed to share a romantic curtained booth reserved for mixed couples at the Papa Choux restaurant near downtown Los Angeles. The next year, the state Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that the restaurant had violated the womens’ civil rights.

The City of Santa Monica recently filed suit against the corporate owners of the Bob’s Big Boy restaurant chain, asking that the restaurants be forced to serve disabled persons accompanied by service dogs.

Oseas, who has had Landmark since 1986, said other restaurant owners who have questioned Landmark’s presence in restaurants have been satisfied when she shows them the dog’s authorization documents. “I never thought something like this would happen,” she said.