Thousands of people are sharing a Blue Springs, Missouri woman's Facebook post accusing a nail salon of discrimination.
Alisa Cain and Glo Nail Lounge spoke only with 41 Action News to explain what happened.
Cain says she was denied a full spa pedicure at Glo in Lee's Summit because of her wheelchair over the weekend. Cain didn't want to be on camera, but explained the situation over the phone. She says Glo employees only offered to do her nails from her wheelchair because it'd be too much of a hassle to lift her into the pedicure chair.
"They didn't offer to provide help, they just assumed my friend Abby couldn't do it. I believe it was wrong on them to make the assumption, but they never really asked," Cain told 41 Action News.
Cain's friend Abby, who is also her personal care attendant, was there too. They both say they tried to explain that Abby would do all the lifting. They say several employees came over. After the confusion, the girls left.
"When I rolled out of there I was like, 'Oh my god, Abby. What just happened?'" Cain recalled. "Tears welled up in my eyes, and when you upset me enough to make me cry, you know something really emotional happened inside of me."
Cain took it to Facebook. Her post was shared almost 10,000 times. Hundreds of people around the world are commenting, showing their support, and bashing the business.
Glo's management says it was all a miscommunication.
"We don't discriminate against anybody," nail technician Jen said.
Jen, an employee who was working that day, is speaking on behalf of Glo. She didn't want to share her last name in fear of the backlash.
Glo says they've gotten many threats and harassing phone calls. Dozens of people are now rating Glo one star on Facebook, Google, and Yelp because of the post. Jen says it's affecting business, but their number one concern is making it right with Cain.
"To give her what she was asking for, hear her out on what she wanted done. That's on our part, we take full responsibility that we didn't get to her service the way she would like to do it," Jen said.
Jen said the confusion started because employees were concerned about how they'd safely get Cain from her wheelchair into the pedicure chair, and would she feel comfortable with a male employee helping. Jen says they didn't realize Cain's friend could help.
"That causes difficulties, tension between the client and the nail technician when there's a language barrier. We get so wrapped up in this business, you think of how to accommodate everybody instead of [thinking], she simply wants to be in the pedicure chair," Jen explained.
Multiple people are sticking up for Glo, including people who were there when Cain was. One woman 41 Action News talked to said Glo employees were not discriminatory and tried to help Cain.
Glo Nail Lounge offered Cain a $1,000 gift card and reached out to Cain to apologize.
Cain says while she won't go back, she wants everyone to stop harassing Glo. She just wants to be treated like everyone else.
"I think my post has helped them understand that they've made a mistake, and I forgive them. This was just a teaching experience for them. I didn't realize how global it would go," Cain said.
Lea Klepees, a spokesperson for The Whole Person, an agency that advocates for people with disabilities, tells us it's important for all businesses to take steps to prevent these issues.
"People feel awkward about asking if they need assistance and they just assume that you're not able to do things. For the most part, I think they just want to be helpful so they try to do things for you when you might not need it," Klepees said.
Klepees suggests businesses take disability etiquette training, to understand how to treat and accommodate people with disabilities. She says most times, the solution is to simply ask the person if they need help.
Cain's other complaint was that Glo employees talked only to her care attendant, and not to her.
"It could make the person with the disability feel like they're not wanted there, and from there they'll go and tell everyone else this business didn't treat me fairly. The disability community is kind of big, so you hear about places that are not accessible or not willing to accommodate you. That could really impact your business, and you want to be known as a business that treats everybody fairly," Klepees said.
Cain stresses she just wants to start a conversation, and wants everyone to be more thoughtful in the future.
