Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru accused of disability discrimination
WEYMOUTH, Mass. -- Is it a case of Dunkin' discrimination?

Donald Hayes, 54, suffers from multiple sclerosis and is confined to a motorized wheelchair. He says that when he rolls up to his local Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru for coffee, they will not serve him because of his vehicle.

"I'll have to get a lawyer and pursue it," Hayes said. "They're violating my rights."

The Dunkin' Donuts store, which is located in a shopping market parking lot, is a drive-thru only service. Hayes claims that the store allowed him to drive up in his wheelchair for months, but all of a sudden, the store changed it's policy.

"Dunkin' Donuts does not have a corporate policy regarding the use of wheelchairs in drive-thrus, but are worried about a potential injury in a traffic accident," the company said in a released statement.

"I don't come here at night," Hayes said. "I don't come here during a rainstorm or a blizzard. I'm not that stupid. I come when the weather's available and when I want a cup of coffee."

Hayes lives about three miles from the nearest Dunkin' Donuts and says that the MBTA van that takes him to the coffee shop will not go to the drive-thru for him.

Customers at the Dunkin' Donuts are divided over policy. But believing his situation is discrimination, Hayes says that he is considering legal action, but he's not doing it for cash.

"I just wanted to go get a cup of coffee," Hayes said. "I'm not looking for anything. I'm not looking for thousands of dollars or millions of dollars for suing them or anything. That's not what I'm looking for."

According to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, it is illegal to deny admission or accessibility because of a person's disability.