A family was out for dinner in Outback Steakhouse in Glen and after reaching there they immediately ordered the drinks and started looking for the meal.
After the meal arrived a manager came to their table and asked them to leave the restaurant after finishing the dinner and said that they had “received a noise complaint” about their 4-year-old son.
The woman whose name is Amanda Jean Braun says that their son ‘was born with a neurological disorder that affects his speech called Childhood Apraxia of Speech.’
The manager even offered them a $20 gift card as an apology, according to Amanda. But she decided to not to visit the restaurant again in future and made a Facebook post writing about the whole incident.
Amanda wrote: ”Saturday night the family and I decided to go to Outback Steakhouse in Glen Burnie for dinner. We were seated almost immediately. We ordered our drinks while skimming the menu then finally ordered our dinner. Our meals came out in good time and all of us were enjoying ourselves up until we were asked to leave because of a noise complaint about my 4 year old son.”
”My son Killian was born with a neurological disorder that affects his speech called Childhood Apraxia of Speech.
This disorder affects Killian in many ways especially communication and behavioral. He is a very energetic kid with much to say, however when he speaks his words are unclear. A man approached our table about 5 minutes after our food was brought out and introduced himself as the manager.
”
”He asked us how our meals were but he didn’t stop there. This gentleman said that he received a noise complaint for my child. He said that he was very uncomfortable coming to our table to tell us that but unfortunately we needed to finish our meals and leave. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”
”I was in total shock! As an apology he gave us a $20 outback credit to use at a later date. But needless to say there isn’t going to be a later date.
Why would I subject my son and the rest of my family to that type of discrimination? What would ever make me want to return? Would we be asked to leave again if my son were to be loud? This is not ok and I’m not stopping here. I will be in contact with corporate.
I ask that everyone that sees this post to please share it. Outback labels itself as a family friendly restaurant just not families with special needs restaurant.”
The post has garnered many likes and comments with thousands of shares. Amanda told ABC affiliate WJLA that she is no longer angry but sad for her son.
She said: “The anger has subsided and I’m left with sadness for my son and his future struggles of being in public.”
Outback also spoke to WJLA, saying: ”We’ve been in contact with the family and have personally apologized. We strive to make sure all guests feel comfortable and welcomed in our restaurants and we fell short. We’re learning from what happened and training our team so we can better serve our diverse guest population.”