Bridal shop: No wheelchairs allowed?

KENTWOOD, Mich. (WOOD) - When Stephanie Nash went shopping for her wedding dress, she didn't think twice about bringing her bridesmaids -- and she never imagined that her friend in a wheelchair would run into any problems, either.

But when Stephanie Dieble first approached Kim Kriner's Bridal Boutique, she saw a sign, scrawled out in pink lettering that began with the words: "Attention customers. Our store is not wheelchair accessible."

"This is by far, the most discrimination I've faced," Dieble said. "This is pretty bad. Something needs to be done about it.

" ... I feel like, I deserve to be able to go anywhere anyone else would."

Dieble and her friends entered the store anyway, figuring the sign was just a bad joke.

They browsed and tried on dresses, but decided enough was enough when Dieble was told her chair couldn't go into the dressing rooms.

"They were completely in fear, I guess, that I would ruin the dresses trying to look at them and wheel around the store," Dieble said.

In Michigan, stores can't post signs if they imply people with disabilities aren't welcome, said Curt Benson, a professor at Cooley Law School.

"It's 2011," Benson told 24 Hour News 8. "Seriously, (you're) gonna put up a sign saying we don't want people in wheelchairs? It's absurd. It really is absurd.

"There's two ways of dealing with it. You can be (a) violation or you can accept the law as written and deal with it, or you can just keep fighting. But you can't fight city hall."

Deborah Simmons, who helped the women at the shop, said the sign was meant only to warn those in wheelchairs that the store's small aisles might be a tight fit.

She was shocked when she heard how mad the women were at the circumstances and the shop, especially at the dressing room situation.

"Tennis shoes ... we ask people to take their shoes off when they try on gowns," Simmons said. "So, asking for the wheels not to be in there, too, I didn't feel was going out of line. In my head, I didn't feel like I was asking her anything that was out of the ordinary."

The sign was taken down after News 8 went to the store and explained that the sign violated state law. The boutique owner showed records of city inspections the shop has passed.

"People in wheelchairs aren't necessarily any different than you or I, and we deserve the same treatment," Dieble said. "That's basically what I want to get across."