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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Restaurant bars husband of woman with H1N1

By: Bruce Owen

9/09/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 9

A Pinawa man has filed a human-rights complaint against a Seven Sisters Falls restaurant for being denied service after his wife was diagnosed with H1N1 flu.

"I don't want any harm to come to them," Floyd Carlson said Tuesday. "I just want them to know what they did was wrong."

"He just wants an apology," said Carlson's wife, Roberta. "If they do it to one person, they'll do it to another. They're diagnosing people."

Roberta, 53, said she was hit by the flu June 15 and within days found herself at Health Sciences Centre hooked up to a ventilator and multiple intravenous bags.

"I don't remember any of it," she said. "I was in a coma."

She was discharged Aug. 5.

Floyd, 65, said that on June 26 he stopped in Seven Sisters for his morning coffee and toast.He had barely stepped through the door when the proprietor stopped him.

"She said, 'Floyd, you can't come in here until we find out what's going on with your wife.' "

Carlson, a trucker, walked out the door in disbelief. He's only recently filed a complaint against the restaurant with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission.

Tina Lehman of Seven Sisters Motel and Restaurant said she has apologized to Carlson, but added she stands by her decision.

"I've got nothing to hide," she said. "I just thought I was making the right decision. There's a lot of people in this town who agree with me.

"I feel bad about the whole situation," Lehman said. "He's a good customer. But I have to look after the welfare of my other customers."

Roberta added she thinks she caught H1NI days earlier when she was visiting with friends who had just returned from Mexico and complained they weren't feeling well. She said because she has asthma, it hit her hard and attacked her lungs.

"My family say the doctors told them it could have gone either way, but my son said, 'My mom is such a strong-minded person, if she was called she probably wouldn't go.' "

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 9, 2009 A3

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9 Commentscomment icon

So the right thing to do would have been to allow the gentleman in to the restaurant, then take personal protective measures and put on a mask and gloves. Imagine being another customer in the restaurant seeing your server suddenly wearing a mask and gloves to serve the fellow at the table beside you!
How are we to handle that? Should we all carry gloves and masks? Should we all stop frequenting restaurants? How do we reasonably manage this? Remember, Seven Sisters is a small community and many people would have known Mr. Carlson's wife had H1N1.
Oh, and just because he could have become a carrier as soon as his wife became ill doesn't mean that he DID pick up the virus then. It could have been days later, or not at all.

according to the time line this is clearly a human rights issue. It says she came down with H1N1 on June 15. She was sick and fell into a coma and placed on a ventilator. On June 26, her husband was barred from the restaurant. This is 11 days later. According to the research released, you are only a carrier for 7 days or less. Which means that He would have possibly become a carrier the second his wife contracted it. then 7 days later he would be fine. She did not have h1N1 the whole time. she was fighting the side effects. So she was released 9 days after this incident. There is no way he would have been a carrier. And like the others said. There is no way they could have known who else might have had it.

avatar

They clearly knew him and knew his wife was sick... what if the truck driver who was in there had a family member with H1N1 or someone else they did not know personally was in close contact with a person who had H1N1?? You just can't be sure and just because one person has it does not mean everyone does, it's like the flu just worse. This establishment was completely in the wrong.

what if the guy at the next table was a carrier and she served him??? the reality is that this is going to be everywhere in a few weeks. the best bet in my opinion is to avoid public places as much as possible and take every precaution that we've been hearing about. I don't plan to eat out.

How many other people may have had it or been a carrier of it and was in that restaurant. You could have it be in the early stages and think it is just the flu, meantime it is actually H1N1.I think they were totally wrong with what they did, there is other diseases out there that can spread are you going to ban everyone, you may as well then close the doors.

I agree with this man's complaint. Until such time as someone has been quarantined by public health one cannot deny them freedom of movement to public places. It is definitely a human rights issue. I am glad this is coming to light now as I believe there will be a lot more cases of this sort of thing happening in the coming months.

You can feel and be perfectly healthy and be a spreader. If 7 Sisters is as particular about cleanliness of their establishment maybe it says a lot about the restaurant.

Come on man, it's a matter of public safety! Perhaps if the same attention was taken towards the person who spread the bug to the wife, the contact (and subsequent hospitalization) wouldn't have happened in the first place. Use your head buddy!

I wounder what would of happened if Mr. Carlson was a carrier of H1N1 and the restaurant owner did not "bar him" from entering the building?

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