Promising Directions - Tennessee

In October, 2006 Lorre Mendelson was traveling on business in East Tennessee. She arrived at her hotel in the evening. When she made here reservations, she informed the reservationist that she had a service dog, even though it is not required to let people know in advance. Ms. Mendelson has learned that informing hotels in advance eliminates the harassment almost completely.

However, when she arrived, the front desk clerk yelled at her and told her to “get the dog out.” She asked him to call the owner and gave him the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) information about service dogs. The front desk clerk called the manager and told him that Ms. Mendelson refused to leave the hotel. At that point, she went to call the police. The manager then said that they would rather pay to have the room cleaned than to deal with the police.

After speaking with her director upon her return, Ms. Mendelson filed a complaint with DOJ. She received a final letter dated March 6, 2007 with the conclusion of the investigation. As a result of her complaint, the hotel implemented policies and procedures related to service animals which were provided to all existing employees, will be reviewed by all new employees, and have been displayed in a conspicuous location for all front desk representatives to reference.

• Letter to Ms. L. Mendelson from U.S. Attorney General
• Service Animal Policy referenced in Ms. L Mendelson letter

Note: : use word processing software, i.e. download: Word Viewer). Alternate formats are available upon request.

Shared with the permission of Lorre Mendelson.