Torrance Sued by Blind Woman on Bias Charge

When Lucia Gobel was told she could not bring her guide dog into the Numero Uno Pizzeria in Torrance, it was not the first time she felt discriminated against because she is blind.

But when she called police and they refused to get involved, Gobel decided that it was time to stand up for her rights.

Gobel, a 36-year-old Hawthorne resident, has filed a $25,000 claim against the City of Torrance and a separate suit asking for unspecified damages against the managers and the franchiser of the pizza restaurant.

“I don’t want to make a big deal out of this,” she said, “but I want to stop people from discriminating against blind people.”

The suit, which was filed in Torrance Superior Court, also asks for a permanent injunction prohibiting all Numero Uno pizzerias and their local franchiser, Van Nuys-based Gelet Enterprises Inc., from maintaining any policy of refusing service to blind people with guide dogs.

Ronald Gelet, president of the franchiser, called the matter an isolated incident and said it is not a company policy to refuse service to blind or physically handicapped people.

Torrance Police Sgt. Ronald Trader acknowledged that the officers were unaware of the law, and said they should have enforced it. According to Gobel’s suit, the incident took place about 7 p.m. on May 1 when she and her guide dog, Kincaid, went to the restaurant for dinner. When Gobel and the 6-year-old golden retriever entered, Meichung Lee, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Leng Shi Lee, told her that the dog had to stay outside, Gobel said.

Gobel, who has had Kincaid for five years, said she tried to explain that California law gives blind people and their guide dogs access to all places open to the public, but Meichung Lee refused to allow the dog in. When Gobel asked to use the restaurant’s pay phone to call police, Lee refused, forcing her to use a public phone on the street.

Torrance Police Officers Richard Carr and Steven Badenoch arrived soon afterward and, unaware of the 1968 law, told Gobel that they could do nothing to help her.

The claim against the city alleges that police inflicted “distress, mental anguish and humiliation” when they failed to charge the restaurant owner with a state law violation.