Couple Says Maggie Mae's No Dogs Request is Discrimination

A couple asked to leave a Clearwater eatery after the manager decided their dogs weren’t service dogs is planning to file a disability discrimination complaint.

Lior Shar and her husband Dr. Richard Davis went to Maggie Mae’s, 1261 Gulf Blvd., for breakfast over the weekend and brought their two service dogs with them.

At some point, the couple said the restaurant’s manager decided the dogs weren’t service animals and asked the couple to leave, First Coast News reported.

In a 911 call to Clearwater Police, the restaurant’s host said the couple became upset and was cursing in earshot of other customers.

When the dispatcher asked why the couple was asked to leave, the host responded: “They’re saying the dogs are service dogs. I don’t think that they are.”

Clearwater Police officers did respond to the restaurant, spokesman Rob Shaw said. The officers, however, did not tell them to leave. They did speak with the two outside, he said.

Shar told First Coast News the experience was “humiliating. It was certainly discriminatory in nature.”

While Shar and Davis intend to file a complaint with the Pinellas County Office of Human Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice, First Coast News says Maggie Mae’s staff are currently retraining on the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Photo Credit: Patch file photo of a service dog.