UPDATE: Popeyes has issued an apology to the customer, though it appears to be standing by its original claims.

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A 20-year-old diabetic says he was rudely kicked out of a Popeyes eatery in Georgia because of his service dog, and that the local police refused to even discuss the topic. However, the restaurant’s manager says something completely different.

The customer has Type 1 diabetes and has been using a service dog trained to alert him to sudden spikes or drops in his blood sugar level. Last week, he says his blood sugar was dropping so he popped into the Popeyes for some food and a sweet tea.

According to the customer, the restaurant manager allegedly asked him if it was a seeing eye dog and then told him to leave because he couldn’t have the dog in the building. When the customer tried to explain the need for his service dog, he says the manager called the police, who were not exactly helpful.

The customer says he tried to show the officer information about his dog, but the cop refused, telling him, “I know the law.”

Even the police report confirms that the officer told the customer that he was on private property and needed to leave.

However, the manager of the restaurant tells the Atlanta Journal Constitution a very different story. He says this particular customer had been in the Popeyes before with his dog and there had been no incidents.

But on this occasion, claims the manager, a family entering the restaurant were concerned about the dog being near their children.

“The two parties engaged in a heated conversation, which quickly escalated, requiring the manager on duty to contact the police to intervene,” said the restaurant in a statement.

However (x2), the customer has several issues with this story, saying that not only was this the first time he’d been in that particular Popeyes, he didn’t speak to any other customers before being given the heave-ho.

No matter which story is more accurate, all restaurant managers should be fully aware of rules regarding service dogs and the police should have done something to resolve the dispute other than ignoring the law.

Man says Popeyes kicked him out over service dog [AJC.com]
Man says he was kicked out of restaurant over service dog [WSBTV.com]

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