By Matt Hanley : Chicago Sun-Times
An Aurora man has sued the local International House of Pancakes, saying employees at the restaurant discriminated against him because he uses a service dog.
The suit, filed in Kane County Court, alleges that Ricky Lee Schopp went to the IHOP restaurant on Augusta Way in Aurora on June 30, 2009, with his mother and his service dog, Phato. Schopp is paralyzed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair. Phato, a Labrador retriever, helps with certain tasks, such as opening doors.
At first, Schopp, his mother and the dog were seated at a table by the IHOP hostess, the suit says. But not long after they sat down, an IHOP employee demanded they move to a different section of the restaurant that had no other customers, the suit says. The employee said the reason they had to switch tables was that Schopp had a dog with him.
After being informed that it was a service dog, the employee still insisted they move or leave the restaurant, the suit alleges. Schopp chose to leave.
IHOP did not return calls for comment.
The suit was initially filed as a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights, which dismissed the complaint for lack of evidence. Schopp’s attorney, Philip Piscopo, said he and his client do not agree with the department’s decision.
The suit seeks damages in excess of $50,000 — and demands that Schopp and Phato be allowed to eat at the restaurant.
Piscopo said Schopp, who is in his 50s, has faced similar problems in the past. He previously sued a restaurant for not allowing his dog in, Piscopo said. That case was settled out of court, but the details of that settlement were not available. It took years for Schopp to want to try eating at a restaurant again, Piscopo said.
Schopp declined to comment for this story.
But a previous story showed that in 1989, Schopp, an active sportsman, was relaxing on a friend’s boat, floating in the Illinois River near Ottawa. He jumped off the boat into 3 feet of water and a sandbar. He hit headfirst, instantly crushing three vertebrae and his spinal cord. He nearly drowned until friends realized he could not move.
Schopp has limited movement in his arms, but no movement in his fingers.
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