Deaf man denied service at McDonald’s in Arkansas
On Friday night, Scott West, who is deaf, wears a hearing aid, and can speak, was denied service at a McDonald's drive-thru Friday night in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
He pulled up to the window to order but he was told to go back to the line and use the speaker, although there is a sign for customers with hearing or speech difficulties to pull in the next open window.
West and the staff at McDonald’s argued for about two minutes. Here is a captioned video.
Scott West: Alright, this guy over here is telling me that I need to go through the drive thru to order food after I told him I’m hard of hearing and Deaf. And this is the guy right there, even the manager.
You see what I mean?
You see I’m Deaf, right here. I'm right here. So I got his name and I’m going to take them to the court.
Worker: I’m sorry, what’s the matter?
Scott West: Yeah, the manager over there is telling me I need to go through the drive thru-
Worker: To order?
Scott West: To order, yeah cause I’m hard of hearing. You can’t do that.
Worker: Yes, we can. We have to.
Scott West: No!
Worker: How are we going to take your order over here when we don’t have a monitor?
Scott West: [Laughs] I just got you on camera!
Worker: Okay.
Scott West: What’s your name? What’s your name?
Worker: Answer me that, though.
Scott West: What’s your name?
Worker #2: I said,“I don’t give a fuck!”
Worker: Quit.
Scott West: Oh, you better watch your fucking mouth!
Worker: Okay, so is there anything I can help you with?
Scott West: I tried to order it,but y’all won’t let me order.
Worker: You have to go to the line. I’m sorry, sir.
Scott West: You can’t!
Worker: I can’t tell you-
Scott West: That’s not the rule.
Worker: I’m sorry. I don’t know what to tell you.
Scott West: [Chuckles] Three people.They’re gonna get fired.
Worker: That’s fine.
Scott West: [Chuckles] You will!
Worker: Yup.
Scott West: Why don’t you look it up, “Deaf discrimination.”
Worker: It’s not.
Scott West: Yes, it is!
Worker: No, it’s not.
Scott West: You’re telling me I got to order through the drive thru when I couldn't!
Worker: That’s what I tell everybody.
Scott West: I shouldn’t have to order through the drive thru.
Worker: This isn't the only person that’s tried this.I’m not going to sit here and argue about it. I’m sorry sir, but I mean whatever you’re trying to get out of this is not funny. I don’t know what you’re trying to get out of it.
Scott West: [Laughs] I’m taking you guys to court!
Worker: Go ahead, sir.
The Daily Moth:
As you can see in the video, West said he would seek legal action. He confirmed to “The Daily Moth” that he would sue McDonald’s.
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West showed me a correspondence he had with a McDonald’s official. The official apologized and said employees were confused about policies but explained they have dealt with the employees immediately. West responded that his attorney would take care of it. The official said she didn’t understand why an attorney was needed because they fixed the problem immediately. West said it’s because of discrimination of deaf rights.
I was in touch with McDonald’s headquarters to inquire about this situation and did not get an immediate response.