John F. Garcia, a 50 year-old man with Down syndrome, and a group of individuals with Intellectual Disabilities went on a trip to a family dollar store with the caretaker, Lisa Pacheco. When they arrived at the store, the manager exclaimed, “Oh no, you’re not coming in her are you? You can’t come in! You can’t shop here!”
The manager told Pacheco, “you’re taking this all wrong, I’m the only one working right now,” and after continued protests, Pacheco led the group out.
Many in the group were confused as to what they were doing wrong and why they were being shouted at. Other members of the group left the store crying.
Now, Garcia is asking Colorado’s federal court to find that Family Dollar discriminated based on Garcia’s disability, which is illegal under the American’s with Disabilities Act (as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and potentially the Rehabilitation Act of 1973).
Since the incident, Garcia says “people at stores don’t like me,” and avoids going to Family Dollar and other stores.
The company has yet to comment but its district manager stated that the group should “think about coming in at a different time when [Family Dollar] had more help.”
To read the entire article: https://themighty.com/2016/09/john-f-garcia-man-with-down-syndrome-sues-family-dollar-stores/
