GNYADA November 2017 Newsletter

“Paws” to Consider Your Service Animal Policy 17

(ADA), people with disabilities may bring service animals into businesses. A service animal is a dog or miniature horse that has been, or is being, trained to aid a person with a disability. Most people are familiar with guide dogs for individuals with visual or hearing impairments; however, service animals can also be trained to detect oncoming seizures or when a person’s blood sugar is too high or too low. “Emotional support animals” are not trained to perform a specific task, therefore dealers do not need to permit them in the dealership. Some additional rules around this issue include: If it is not obvious that the animal n

is a service animal, a dealer is permitted to ask before allowing it into the dealership; A dealer may not ask the customer to present proof that their animal is a service animal; If the animal growls, lunges, or threatens other customers, a dealer may ask the owner to leave but must offer the option to stay in the dealership without the animal. A dealer may not charge the customer for allowing a service dog to go on a test drive or in a loaner vehicle. However, if the dog damages the vehicle, the dealership may charge the customer for repair.

A Florida Mercedes-Benz dealership settled a lawsuit for refusing to let a customer take his service dog in a loaner vehicle. Part of the settlement required the dealership to train its employees on how to treat customers who own service animals for disabilities. While this issue has not reached the courts, the law regarding taxis provides some guidance — taxis may not refuse to transport someone with a service animal and cannot charge a higher fare, fee, deposit, or surcharge for transporting a service animal. What if a customer brings a service dog into my dealership? Under New York law and the Americans with Disabilities Act

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Local Dealer Group Steps up Fall Food Donations 18

“In 1937 Nat Koeppel started a Thanksgiving tradition by giving turkeys to all his employees as a show of appreciation,” said Koeppel’s Dealer Principal, and GNYADA Director, Mark Lacher. “Over the years, this tradition has been expanded to include our surrounding community and local firehouses.” If a Koeppel employee doesn’t want or need the turkey being offered to them by the dealership, it gets donated separately to Lions Clubs International. Over the last decade, Koeppel has collected several hundred pounds of food as part of its work with New York Cares and City Harvest. Koeppel employees set up donation bins in each of the group’s four locations: Koeppel Ford, Koeppel Nissan, Koeppel Subaru, and Koeppel Mazda, all located on Northern Boulevard in Queens. The drives are also promoted on Koeppel’s website and social media channels, where customers are encouraged to come to one of the facilities and make a donation, whether actual foodstuffs or just financial support. To learn more about Koeppel’s 2017 efforts in the local fight against hunger, visit www.koeppelautogroup.com .

Every fall, the Koeppel Auto Group participates in massive food drives through New York Cares and City Harvest. In addition to these large-scale food collection campaigns, Koeppel donates 50 turkeys every year to organizations throughout the dealership’s community on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Koeppel employees Melissa Drapala (left), Jorge Pena (center-left), and Charles Fama (right) with City Councilman Daniel Dromm's Chief of Staff, Carolyn Tran (center-right)

Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association • www.gnyada.com

The Newsletter • November 2017 11

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