Veronica Cardona says she has never been treated like this. She says what happened there was a clear violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Cardona says she was shopping with her mother at "Cotton On" in the Memorial City Mall on Thursday when she went to try on several items she was considering purchasing. We should mention that she is paraplegic and most often uses a wheelchair to get around.
Cardona tells us she selected items to try on and that when she went to the dressing rooms she found all but two were filled with boxes, including the only one that was handicapped accessible. We saw boxes for ourselves at the store's dressing rooms on Friday.
Cardona and her mother say they asked repeatedly for employees, then a manager, to clear the room out so that she could try on the clothes. The customers claim they were told, no.
Cathy Cardona said, "We got that very insincere, 'Well, we're sorry...' Rolling their eyes, frustrated, they've been inconvenienced kind of thing."
Veronica said, "Yes, I might be in a wheelchair. Yes, i might have a disability, but I'm still a regular human being. I still deserve that respect."
On Friday employees at "Cotton On" said the boxes are shipments of merchandise which they have nowhere else to put. Cardona says she complained to the company's corporate offices and has not yet heard a response.
A district manager called me back after I visited the store. She tells me, "Our company policy is to completely comply with the Americans with Disability Act. If we find the policy has been violated, we will take appropriate action."
Employees were moving boxes out of the dressing room when I left the store.
Find Kevin on Facebook at ABC13KevinQuinn or on Twitter at @kquinn001
Take ABC13 with you!
Download our free apps for iPhone, iPad and Android devices
