Woman, 378 lbs., denied service

PERKINS TWP. — Is it discrimination to be denied a manicure because of your weight?That's the question one woman asked after Hollywood Nails in the Sandusky Mall turned her away on Sunday."He just stood up in front of everybody and said 'you look like you are 300 pounds, I can't do your nails,'" said Fremont resident Gariana Pugh of a salon employee. "What does my weight have to do with getting my nails done?"There are laws in place to protect people at places of public accommodation, like a nail salon, against discrimination based on age, race, religion or disability, said civil rights attorney Avery Friedman, who often comments on national news outlets such as CNN."If a business didn't want to serve a client because they don't like the look of obese people, then that might be discrimination based on a disability," Friedman said.The salon manager, Quo Bao Le, called the police after the woman's boyfriend allegedly started to yell at him. The boyfriend told police the salon said his girlfriend weighed more than 500 pounds and would break the chair, according to a Perkins police report."I asked her to make sure she was under the weight limit before she sat down because I didn't want the chair to break or for anyone to get hurt," Le said. "I apologize to her for that, but I don't want an accident to happen."The tags on the chairs at the salon list the weight limit as 300 pounds, Le said. Most chairs have weight restraints, which salons across the country have adopted to prevent accidents and costly repairs.The salon could also be liable for injuries if it allowed an overweight patron to sit on a chair with a weight limit, and it breaks.Weight limits on chairs is a nondiscriminatory justification that protects a business legally for the denial of service, Friedman said."If the chair can't accommodate her, whether she's considered disabled or not, it's not discriminatory," Friedman said. "But if the woman requested a reasonable accommodation then they would have to accommodate her."Le said the salon isn't required by law to have special equipment for larger clientele, but if she brought in a chair of her own, they'd accommodate her.The woman did not ask for special accommodations but said she had her nails done at the salon before without her weight being a problem.When asked if she was treated unfairly, she said: "Yes, I was. It doesn't matter what size I am. Business is business."Reach reporter Michael Harrington at michaelharrington@sanduskyregister.com, follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegisterFremont resident Gariana Pugh said she was discriminated by a Sandusky Mall salon because of her weight. " It doesn't matter what size I am. Business is business," she said.