(PCM) Popular fast-food chains Kentucky Fried Chicken, better known as KFC, has just been slapped with a fairly large lawsuit by American veteran and war hero Charles Hernandez, who was refused service in the restaurant because he arrived with his service dog.
Hernandez claims he is a “highly-decorated and combat-disabled veteran of the Iraq war” and is even an educator in the New York City school system and one of the first soldiers to arrive at the World Trade Center site during September 11th, 2001.
Hernandez’s service dog, named Valor, accompanies him to assist with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder caused by his years in combat and in the service. In the lawsuit Hernandez claims that when he entered the restaurant, the employee immediately stated “Papi, there are no dogs allowed”. Even after Hernandez explained that he had the proper permits to allow the dog to accompany him, the employee still responded with “Ok, but you still can’t have the dog in the store”.
Hernandez eventually gave up arguing and left the store, without his food and is now asking for a million dollars because of the incident. The employee of the KFC says that that the dog was not wearing the proper identification that stated it was a service animal, while Hernandez fires back saying that the dog always wears his bright green vest and service tags.
Something tells me that Hernandez will not be getting a million dollars out of this lawsuit, but it definitely has people talking and hopefully KFC rethinking their animal policy when it comes to service animals entering their establishments.