A two-year old was kicked out of Panera Bread because of her special shoes that made squeaking noises to let her know if she's walking correctly, according to NY Daily.
Emma's mother, Catherine Duke, opened up about what's happened since the incident and admits that she can't keep mum about it. "I was just trying to stick up for my kid. I wasn't trying to smear Panera's name. I was trying to raise awareness that my child was discriminated against and other children are discriminated against just some people don't say anything," she said. Emma suffers from developmental delays.
The little girl's undiagnosed illness prevented her from even trying to walk until she was 23 months old and was therefore recommended special shoes that give extra ankle support and squeak by her physical therapist. "It's not good for her to walk without her shoes because her ankles could twist and have all sorts of problems."
Earlier this month, Duke went to a Panera Bread in Savannah, GA., with her mother and two daughters. After she left the table for a moment, an employee informed her that a customer is bothered by the soun of Emma's shoes. The employee suggested that they either take the shoes off of leave the restaurant. Duke opted to just leave. Emma's three-year old sister, Ana understood what was going on. "She understood and she wasn't happy, she was very upset," said Duke. Duke also talked to the manager asking which customer raised the complaint but the manager didn't tell her. She also contacted the corporate office but was informed that it would take approximately 48 hours for her to get a response.
