http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies723.htm

I’m still not sure what the issue is here and I still think the tour operator was acting in good faith. The point I was trying to make is that while they may feel “discriminated against” as a social term, I still don’t think it is technically discrimination that you could sue them over. I don’t disagree with you that real people experience real discrimination every day.

I would still like someone to answer my second question about how they knew how old the Broomes were and if they called only the Broomes or everyone on the tour to notify them of the change. I still don’t understand if they were actually singled out, but maybe I’m not reading closely.

I don’t know if you can even make the comparison of race or religion because I’m not aware of a market for tours that organize on that basis (correct if I’m wrong). However, consider sexual orientation, which is a protected class in most states and there is a market for gay-friendly travel. Suppose that I, as a heterosexual person booked a tour and then the operator called me and the rest of the folks who booked the tour and said that they had to realign the tour and it was going to be majority gay-friendly. I guess I could be offended, but I don’t consider that discrimination if the tour operator had a legitimate business reason to change the tour.

Finally, regarding the age question, didn’t I read a post recently (maybe it was on the Consumer Traveler site) about a mom who was upset the cruise she booked for her family was geared towards the younger set and she wished she would have known that? I guess damned if you do . . .

Suppose instead of age, it was race or religion. Sorry, Mr and Ms Broome. Most of the group are Race A and since you are Race B, we thought we’d have you go on another tour more suited for your race.

The mere act of being singled out can be discrimination, regardless of the final outcome.

Isn’t he showing prejudice against people who are overweight, have less than a full head of hair, are overweight, and dress differently than he does? With so much hate inside himself, who cares about his complaints?

Also Sam Peterson (above) talks about proving that an animal is a service dog. It’s illegal in the United States to ask somebody to prove that their animal is a service animal. Just trying to keep Sam out of trouble.

So they gave the option of continuing as planned. What’s wrong?

As to the necessary helper dog, the law says someone can ask about the animal and if told it is a special needs dog and the person needs it, that is all that can be asked and the place must accomodate. Personally, I would like to see a notation on some form of ID stating such so that you don’t have a bunch of scammers out there. We already have enough problems here with non handicapped people using their significant others’ HC tags to park. No reason that ID can’t be shown.

It is sad in this country that one can sue for age discrimination because they are old and the place doesn’t want them. Too bad IIRC the Supreme Court says you can’t have age discrimination if you are younger and denied something. I’m sure if those on the court weren’t all of the age where this law would cover them, they might feel differently when they are denied housing, rental cars, or any number of other things that those younger people cannot have.

What’s wrong with what happened to Leslie is that it almost certainly violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. The company faces at least as much of a litigation risk by not letting her travel, as it would have if it had let her travel.

Pretty different, since none of those types of discrimination is illegal, nor has any been the basis of pervasive discrimination in our nation’s history.

In any event, I don’t see what the discrimination was here. Gap did not tell these folks that they could not go on the trip. Gap said that the COULD go on the trip, and merely suggested that a different trip might be more up their alley. If Gap had banned them from the trip, this would be a very different situation.

In an era where there is still so much actual discrimination, calling this case discrimination seems pretty silly to me.