Alex Bancroft stated in Newsweek that since he was born without arms her 3 year old son, William eats food with his feet.
The 3 year old has no hands so he eats with his feet. Not everyone can do that.
Once the family went to IHOP in Hot Springs, Arkansas, because William wanted to have pancakes for breakfast. The family has no issue with the 3 year old son eating with his feet.
William usually sits on the table, so he sat on the table and started coloring while waiting for the food to arrive.
After some time the general manager of IHOP walked to them and stated that William couldn’t sit on the table due to Health department issues.
According to Bancroft, the manager stated that she doesn’t want William to touch the syrup dispensers using his feet since it was a sanitary concern.
Bancroft asked her the difference between the hands and feet.
She also said the manager that William had been taken to wash his feet but the manager said she didn’t witness that.
Then she asked the manager whether she questions all her customers if they’ve washed their hands before using the syrup dispensers.
Later the manager apologized for her mistake but Bancroft leaves the restaurant for the way his child was treated.
Bancroft said that everyone in the restaurant was staring at them. Incidents like this have never happened in other restaurants. Noone ever discriminated against her son for not having arms as IHOP did. The majority of the people they meet are amazed to see William eating with his feet.
She shared the incident on Facebook and it went viral. The news was shared over 2,500 times.
The owner of the IHOP asked them to discuss the incident while having a meal at the restaurant.
She acknowledged the manager’s concerns but said they were unwarranted “if tables are cleaned and sanitized as they should be. Some people say it’s unhygienic for a youngster to be sat at the table, but that’s how stuff happens in our household.” Every single meal of the day, my son sits at the table.”
The manager has subsequently been placed on administrative leave. And IHOP issued a statement emphasizing that the company and its franchises “we not allow actions that are or imply the discrimination of any kind.” They promised to make sure the franchisee’s personnel was “retrained” to “ensure IHOP’s standard of service, particularly for guests with disabilities, is offered to all.”
The statement regarding the 3 year old William’s incident.
“The franchisee at this location has been in touch with the guest to express his sincerest apologies. And will continue to be in communication with her to resolve the issue.”
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