{"id":121631,"date":"2019-12-06T08:08:51","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T16:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=121631"},"modified":"2019-12-06T10:42:24","modified_gmt":"2019-12-06T18:42:24","slug":"legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Experts Warn Casinos, Disabled Guests About Service Dog Control Following Niagara Falls Incident"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent episode where a New York State Seneca Niagara Casino worker may have asked a disabled woman to leave a restaurant after her service dog possibly became unruly has led to many recommendations from noted lawyers.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Seneca Niagara Casino was involved in a recent dispute over a service dog. (Image: Booking.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last month, Bella, a three-year-old Pomeranian, accompanied Maryellen Jurczak to the Niagara Falls tribal casino. The woman has an implant and the dog routinely is by her side.<\/p>\n

On that day, the dog apparently was given a treat while the owner was seated in a casino restaurant. There is a dispute over what happened next.<\/p>\n

Jurczak claims a security officer told her to leave because the dog was unruly. But Seneca Gaming Corporation<\/a> denies she was ordered to depart.<\/p>\n

In turn, the owner denies the dog was ever disruptive and claims this was not the first time she was asked to exit with the animal.<\/p>\n

The initial facts surrounding the incident, as reported by WKBW, appear sketchy. But they do provide an opportunity to show how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies in casinos for service dogs.<\/p>\n

In general, the casino needs to accommodate patrons with service animals,\u201d Robert D. Dinerstein, director of the Disability Rights Law Clinic at American University\u2019s Washington College of Law, told Casino.org<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Service dogs also must be kept under control. But what that means can be unclear.<\/p>\n

For instance, Dinerstein said giving the dog a treat — which perhaps took place — \u201cshouldn\u2019t by itself be evidence of the dog being out of control.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd even if the dog \u2018ate off the table\u2019 — which the owner denies, though she says the security person accused her dog of doing so — I don\u2019t think that would be enough to establish the dog was out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if control was an issue, the focus should be on whether the person took action to bring the animal back under control, Dinerstein said.<\/p>\n

He finds it \u201ccurious,\u201d too, that the owner said she was giving the dog a treat \u201cfor having performed a trick. I wouldn\u2019t think that performing tricks is part of a service animal\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, service dogs should not pose problems for casinos, Dinerstein said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that the activities in which a casino patron would typically engage — sitting at gaming tables, playing slot machines, moving from one venue to another — would be particularly likely to cause trouble, assuming others in contact with the animal respect the fact that the animal is working, should not be petted or played with, etc.,\u201d Dinerstein added.<\/p>\n

Because Seneca Niagara is a tribal casino, there is the additional question of whether the ADA even applies to the property. Michael A. Schwartz, director of Syracuse University College of Law\u2019s Disability Rights Clinic, told Casino.org<\/em>, \u201cA federal court has held that the ADA could apply to a place of public accommodation run by an Indian tribe.\u201d But he advises questions of sovereign immunity protecting an Indian tribe from a private lawsuit is still \u201cunsettled law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casino Officials Need to Know ADA Requirements<\/h2>\n

When asked for basic advice for casinos, Dinerstein recommends officials are familiar with requirements in Title III of the ADA. The Department of Justice has posted a frequently asked questions document on the topic.<\/p>\n

That is a starting point. If a patron and\/or the service animal is indeed \u201cout of control,\u201d document the incident, \u201cin case there is a later claim that your effort to exclude the animal \u2026 violated the statute,\u201d Dinerstein said.<\/p>\n

\n

Also, post signs that say service animals are welcome. He additionally cautions against asking lots of questions to guests that imply a casino employee doubts whether the animal is a real service animal.\u00a0Limited questions can be asked if the dog begins jumping on other guests or barks inappropriately.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Similarly, Anthony Cabot<\/a>,\u00a0Distinguished Fellow of Gaming Law, UNLV Boyd School of Law, warns casinos to \u201cuse caution\u201d before excluding a service dog.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is \u2018out of control\u2019 varies between the places like lecture halls and busy casinos,\u201d Cabot told Casino.org<\/em>. \u201cBefore security undertakes to exclude a service dog, they should raise it with in-house counsel, if available, or the person assigned by the casino to deal with ADA issues to make sure their actions are appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advice for Disabled Guests<\/h2>\n

As far as disabled guests who want to bring a service animal to a casino, they may want to have the DOJ\u2019s FAQ document with them, Dinerstein recommends.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not a bad idea to call in advance and let the casino know that you plan to go to the casino and will be bringing your service animal,\u201d Dinerstein additionally advises. \u201cGet the name of the person with whom you have spoken.\u201d<\/p>\n

The law is typically on the side of the disabled guest with the dog. \u201cFederal and state laws require casinos to allow service animals to accompany people with disabilities in all public areas, including restaurants,\u201d agrees Cabot.<\/p>\n

But he adds a caveat. \u201cThe right to have a service dog is not absolute, however, and generally, a casino owner can ask that the dog be removed if the dog is out of control and the owner does not take effective action to control it,\u201d Cabot said.<\/p>\n

Chris Diefenthaler, executive director of Assistance Dogs International (ADI), a coalition of non-profit programs that train and place service dogs, explained to Casino.org<\/em> that eating off a table \u201cis very inappropriate behavior\u201d for a service dog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent episode where a New York State Seneca Niagara Casino worker may have asked a disabled woman to leave a restaurant after her service dog possibly became unruly has led to many recommendations from noted lawyers. Last month, Bella, a three-year-old Pomeranian, accompanied Maryellen Jurczak to the Niagara Falls tribal casino. The woman has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":121633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLegal Experts Warn Casinos, Disabled Guests About Service Dog Control<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A New York State Seneca Niagara Casino worker acting after a service dog possibly became unruly has led to many recommendations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Legal Experts Warn Casinos, Disabled Guests About Service Dog Control\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A New York State Seneca Niagara Casino worker acting after a service dog possibly became unruly has led to many recommendations.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-06T16:08:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-12-06T18:42:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Seneca.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"767\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgedsilv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/\",\"name\":\"Legal Experts Warn Casinos, Disabled Guests About Service Dog Control\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Seneca.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-06T16:08:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-06T18:42:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\"},\"description\":\"A New York State Seneca Niagara Casino worker acting after a service dog possibly became unruly has led to many recommendations.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Seneca.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Seneca.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":767},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Legal\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Legal Experts Warn Casinos, Disabled Guests About Service Dog Control Following Niagara Falls Incident\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\",\"name\":\"Ed Silverstein\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Ed Silverstein\"},\"description\":\"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Legal Experts Warn Casinos, Disabled Guests About Service Dog Control","description":"A New York State Seneca Niagara Casino worker acting after a service dog possibly became unruly has led to many recommendations.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Legal Experts Warn Casinos, Disabled Guests About Service Dog Control","og_description":"A New York State Seneca Niagara Casino worker acting after a service dog possibly became unruly has led to many recommendations.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2019-12-06T16:08:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-12-06T18:42:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":767,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Seneca.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ed Silverstein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgedsilv","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ed Silverstein","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/","name":"Legal Experts Warn Casinos, Disabled Guests About Service Dog Control","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Seneca.jpg","datePublished":"2019-12-06T16:08:51+00:00","dateModified":"2019-12-06T18:42:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e"},"description":"A New York State Seneca Niagara Casino worker acting after a service dog possibly became unruly has led to many recommendations.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Seneca.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Seneca.jpg","width":1024,"height":767},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal-experts-warn-casinos-disabled-guests-about-service-dog-control-following-niagara-falls-incident\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Legal","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Legal Experts Warn Casinos, Disabled Guests About Service Dog Control Following Niagara Falls Incident"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e","name":"Ed Silverstein","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-6-1-96x96.png","caption":"Ed Silverstein"},"description":"Ed Silverstein is a senior reporter covering gambling law and crime news for Casino.org. Ed is an award-winning journalist with credits ranging from the Associated Press to American Lawyer Media. Ed joined the Casino.org news team in 2019 after decades of experience in legal reporting. His past reporting and editing assignments include Cowles Business Media, Columbia University Press, the Connecticut Post, and Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. Besides the law and its application to the gaming industry, Ed\u2019s areas of expertise span business, politics, education, and state and local government. Ed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and master\u2019s degrees from Harvard and Yale. His professional awards include recognition from the New England Press Association and New England AP News Executives. Ed currently resides in Connecticut, where he enjoys photography and bowling in his spare time. Contact Ed at ed.silverstein@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/ed-silverstein","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgedsilv"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/ed-silverstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121631"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}