Deaf Mother Upset By Drive Thru Discrimination
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Karen Putz, a Bolingbrook woman who is deaf, is on a mission to make the world more accessible to those with hearing impairments.
Karen Putz, a Bolingbrook woman who is deaf, is on a mission to make the world more accessible to those with hearing impairments. Her latest target: restaurant drive thrus. She spoke with CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini, who reports there is a fix that could help those simply trying to order a meal.
"It's all about as fast as you can do it, and I think that's where deaf and hard-of-hearing people get lost in that shuffle," said Putz about the challenges of trying to order at a fast food drive thru.
She says she cannot order at a speaker. She needs to drive up to the window to communicate, but that throws off the restaurant's ordering system.
Two years ago, Putz says when she drove up to one restaurant's drive thru window to order, she was threatened. She says someone actually threatened to call the police on her because she would not leave.
Putz and her child, who also is deaf, were trying to order milkshakes. The restaurant worker, according to Putz, told her she wasn't following the rules, and ordered her to drive back to the speaker or police would be called.
Putz says that scared her son.
"It was frightening to him to know that we could go up to a drive thru and have the cops threatened to be called. That's very scary to a 10-year-old," said Putz, who cannot name the restaurant in her case because of a settlement agreement.
"We have deaf and hard-of-hearing folks who are terrified of going through the drive thru because they don't want to deal with this communication issue," said Putz.
She and Savini went to various drive-thru restaurants in Indiana to see what would happen. On this day, last week, there was some confusion over why she bypassed the speaker.
However, all five restaurants tested allowed her to order at the window: McDonald's, Popeyes, White Castle, Arby's and Wendy's.
Another drive thru, Culver's, has actually added a notification system at some of its restaurants. There's a call button near the speaker and menu that notifies restaurant workers that the driver will need assistance.
"It's about fairness. It's about equality. I have every right to go thru the drive thru like everyone else," said Putz, who has been blogging and using social networking to fight for accessibility.
She says a notification system or button at a drive thru tells her she is welcomed at the restaurant, and it helps the staff be prepared for people in her situation.
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