201412.12
0

A customer of one of our clients, a national retailer, brought a claim with the Division of Human Rights that she was discriminated against on the basis of her alleged disability. The store is located on the second floor of a mall. During the holiday season, the store stays open later than the mall. Once the mall closes, the only way to exit the store is by elevator directly to the outside. The customer claimed that she would suffer a panic attack if she was forced to use the elevator. She alleged that the store’s delay in opening the emergency stairwell was unreasonablly long and caused her emotional distress and embarrassment. The Division of Human Rights agreed with our arguments that the customer failed to demonstrate that she suffered a defined disability and any delay in opening the emergency stairwell was reasonable. The complaint was dismissed.