Last Updated on: 25th February 2023, 04:50 pm
I wrote about the service dog denial situation at Miltons restaurant not long after it happened, but hadn’t talked about it since.
Boy oh boy, a lot sure has happened since.
Charges were filed and later withdrawn, settlements were reached, apologies and donations were made. And now, for reasons that the owners won’t comment on but that you’re going to have a hard time convincing me weren’t at least in part due to their awful behaviour getting out, the place has closed down.
In a way I feel bad for them. Everyone deserves a second chance, assuming this was their first one, of course. But on the other hand, you can only curse out and rough up so many defenseless customers before it starts leaving a bad taste in people’s mouths. We don’t live in a fair world, but sometimes people do get what they deserve. As much as I enjoy a bad guy makes good story, I have trouble shaking the feeling that we’re landing anywhere but on the people getting theirs end of the spectrum here. What we saw in that video went on too long and too loud for it to have been a momentary lapse in judgement.
Miltons Restaurant has closed but remains for sale at a reduced price, after two brothers who operated it sparked outrage by forcefully removing a customer and his service dog in 2021.
The incident, captured on video, led to a boycott and a torrent of bad publicity. In the days that followed, people gathered outside the restaurant with signs, urging people not to support the business.
A police investigation led to assault charges against both men. One man, named in a business document as the person who registered Miltons, was further charged with uttering threats.
Last October, all parties including the customer agreed to the withdrawal of charges after the victim did not want to testify. The two men each made a $1,500 donation to a charity for the blind, and wrote a personal letter of apology to the customer.
