Blind Woman Claims Deli Kicked Her Out Because Of Guide Dog

The Midtown sit-down gourmet deli La Baguette is in the news today after a blind woman accused the manager of ejecting her from the establishment because she had a seeing eye dog. In a tearful interview with NY1, Irene Sirotta claims she showed documentation to prove Tyler, her dog, was a guide dog, but she was still thrown out, along with a human friend. "Why can't I go in there?" she asks while sobbing. "New York State law says I can. It's not fair. I'm sorry, it's not fair." But we spoke with La Baguette's manager, and he has a very different version of yesterday's incident.

Manager Steven Tasto insists that Sirotta and her unidentified friend went in there looking for trouble. He tells us he knows full well guide dogs and therapy dogs are allowed, and that nobody stopped Sirotta from getting her pizza and taking seat. But he claims that when he asked her friend if she needed help, the woman flew off the handle. "We didn't say anything to to the blind lady," says Tasto. "We asked if they needed help and her friend became very angry. She said, 'Why are you asking?' I said, 'I try to help you, what are you looking for?' She said, 'What are we not allowed to be here?'

"Her friend insulted me and said we're not Americans and we don't know the rules, and I'm a stupid idiot. So I went back to work and ignored her. They were here almost 45 minutes, then they came back to me and said they are going to call the cops. She had to call the cops three times before they came, and they told her, 'This is nothing, why are you complaining?' We saw she was a blind lady. Why would we argue with her? We have a camera that shows us leaving her alone. And she lied to NY1 and said she showed us her guide dog I.D., but she never did that, because we never had a problem with the dog in the first place."

Who to believe?! It may be for the courts to decide. Sirotta told NY1 she plans to file complaint with the state, and somehow we suspect a civil lawsuit isn't beyond the realm of possibility.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in Food on May 11, 2011 3:30 PM

Comments [rss]

billyjack55

Crazy broad seems like she's looking for a payday, and she's totally in the dark about the video. Keep tryin', lady.

RobNYC

I'm guessing the truth lies somewhere in-between. If there's video of them sitting there eating without anyone bothering them it's going to be a lot harder to prove the owner or management tried to kick them out. It sounds more like this is an argument that didn't really have anything to do with the dog.

k3ll3s

She should be kicked out for naming her dog 'Tyler'

Peanut_Butter

Poor dog - the shit he has to put up with.

WetButt

My eyes rolled so hard they almost fell out of my head when I saw her bawling on TV.

Sinchy

I know, it's too bad she isn't mute.

eflash

i, for one, believe the restaurant.

whatidsay

At least her eyes do her some good...as waterworks.

Bernie_Geotz_Squirrel_Luv

Why does that name sound familiar?

MermaidFornicator

"We have a camera that shows us leaving her alone."

She's going to feel pretty dumb when she sees that video. on second thought...

Dan Smith

hahahahaha

This made my day
.

SC15

TWO sides to a story? Hmm, I don't know. Let's just pick one and sensationalize the hell out of it. It's the right thing to do.

zevo

ah the ol he said she said bit

FU Boy

For the short time I lived in Brooklyn, I went to a local diner on 5th a few times for dinner. There was a local woman who would bring her dog in like there was no problem, except the restaurant didn't want a dog in the dining room.

It was a seeing eye dog, but the woman wasn't blind. The dog belonged to a friend of hers and she just took care of it on occasion. While I wanted to say to the Diner manager "just let it go," I also wanted to throw her out myself. She was incredibly unreasonable and as soon as she heard the word "no" she started throwing insults and threatened to call the cops.

So, I'm partial to believing the restaurant's side of this.

And, as a general question: why do blind people wear sunglasses? Are they worried they'll miraculously get their sight back and all-of-a-sudden go blind again because of the sun?

Colonel_Ingus

Usually the glasses are worn to not freak out other people. Either due to an eye injury, a lazy eye.... cloudiness. Anything.

FU Boy

Another possibility that crossed my mind, except I was thinking it was a "don't stare at me" thing, which is all kinds of silly.

Part of me thinks they just want to wear their sunglasses at night.

SJ3

I'm legally blind with a guide dog. I have a little vision that I can use if I get so close I bump into it. I wear sunglasses at night because bright lights hurt. This includes street lights, headlights, shop lights - it's not just the sun that lights up the world.

Spirit of 76

Or they may not want to make other people uncomfortable by either unknowingly "staring" at them or into the distance during conversation.