A former Chatham-Kent resident, who once walked nine hours from Chatham to Wallaceburg, says she was barred from using the washroom at a Toronto restaurant because she uses forearm crutches.
Haily Butler-Henderson has filed an application with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, alleging she was discriminated against based on her disability. The 24-year-old was born with spina bifida.
Butler-Henderson claims in August, a staff member at the east Toronto restaurant refused to let her use the restroom five times during her visit, because it was located downstairs, and the business didn't want to be held liable if she fell.
None of the allegations in Butler-Henderson's application, filed last month, have been proven before the tribunal.
"Access to washrooms is a basic physical need at the core of human dignity... Ms. Butler-Henderson's dignity and autonomy were eroded," says Lorin MacDonald, the lawyer representing Butler-Henderson, in an email to BlackburnNews.com. "No one should be put in the position of begging to use a washroom."
Butler-Henderson, who now lives in Toronto, is known for walking more than 20 km on her crutches back in 2010, to raise awareness and funds for the OSPCA in Chatham-Kent.
"[I prefer] to show what I can do rather than focus on what I cannot," she wrote in her application.
MacDonald says the next step is mediation, but if that's unsuccessful, the matter then goes to a hearing.
"The vast majority of businesses do not intend to discriminate against people with disabilities," MacDonald says, "but the damaging effect is felt all the same."