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August 25, 2025
In This Issue:
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Case: Michigan Department of Civil Rights v. Big George's Coney, Inc.
Filed: August 18, 2025
Basis: Failure to accommodate disability, denial of service based on disability
Area: Public Accommodation
Allegation: The claimant alleges that in September 2024 she was denied entry and service because of her dog. The claimant further alleges that she explained to an employee that the dog was a service animal but was still denied entry. The effect of this denial was that the claimant was deprived of the full and equal enjoyment of the food, beverages, and other dining amenities of a public accommodation business.
Finding: The investigation determined that Big George’s Coney, Inc. denied the claimant service due to a service animal and refused to consider an accommodation to a disability. Both decisions violated Michigan’s Persons With Disabilities Civil Rights Act (PWDCRA). As a result, MDCR filed a formal charge of discrimination on August 18, 2025.
Why This Matters: "Accommodations can be a critical resource for the nearly 1.7 million people in Michigan living with disabilities,” said MDCR Executive Director John E. Johnson, Jr. “The reality is most people who live long enough will face some kind of disability at least once in their lives. We must commit to protecting the use of service animals and other adaptive aids by residents and visitors who wish to enjoy our great state.”
(Image is the MDCR logo and an outline drawing of weight scales with the text "Charge of Discrimination.")
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Next Steps:
- Once MDCR files a charge of discrimination, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) will conduct a hearing where the Department and the Respondent will have the opportunity to present evidence.
- After hearing the evidence, the ALJ will then issue a Proposal for Decision, which is a recommendation to the Michigan Civil Rights Commission.
- If the ALJ determines that discrimination occurred, the Proposal for Decision would also include a recommendation on what remedies should be provided.
- The Commission will select one or more Commissioners to serve as Hearing Officers who are charged with drafting a final order and opinion for the full Commission’s consideration.
- The entire Commission will then vote on whether they agree with the proposed final order.
- There is no time limit imposed on drafting and approving the Commission’s final order and opinion, but efforts are made to present the matter to the Commission for consideration within 3-6 months.
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 Image is a multicultural group of three people standing outside with their fists raised in the air. The logo for MIR2H is in the upper right corner. Text:"MI Response to Hate annual conference. Standing against hate: a community response. Sept. 10, 2025 | 8:00 am - 3:00 pm. Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center."
MI Response To Hate (MIR2H) Conference 2025
Date/Time: Wednesday, September 10 | 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM EDT
Theme: Standing Against Hate: A Community Response
Location: Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center, 219 South Harrison Road, East Lansing, MI 48824
Accessibility Notice: The Michigan Department of Civil Rights will make reasonable modifications to policies and practices to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to fully participate in all programs, services and activities. There is an opportunity to request an accommodation during the registration process.
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Morning Plenary Keynote Speaker
Standing Against Hate: Insight Through the Lens of Sport
Dr. Ketra L. Armstrong is a University Diversity & Social Transformation Professor at the University of Michigan (UM). She is a Professor of Sport Management, Director of the Center for Race and Ethnicity in Sport, and Director of the Culture, Equity, and Community Collective in the School of Kinesiology at UM. She is an Affiliate Faculty in the UM Departments of Afroamerican and African Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and the Institute for Research on Women and Gender. She also serves as UM’s NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative.
Her scholarship converges on the topics of race, gender, and the social psychology of sport/leisure consumption and the management/leadership thereof. Her research has been featured in various journals, and she has delivered numerous presentations, keynote addresses, workshops, and webinars related to her research. She is a member of the Diversity Scholars Network at the National Center for Institutional Diversity and a Research Fellow in the North American Society of Sport Management and the National Academy of Kinesiology.
She narrated and co-executive produced Title IX: Implications for Women in Sport and
Education (a 3-Disc, 14-chapter DVD), and the Michigan Emmy-nominated video, “Sport
as an Agent for Change.” She is a former NCAA Division I scholarship student-athlete,
coach, and athletic administrator, and former President of the National Association for
Girls and Women in Sport.
(Image is a portrait of Ketra Armstrong, Ph.D wearing a brown jacket)
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Lunch Plenary Keynote Speakers
A Community Response Displayed
Taneeza is a first-generation American Muslim immigration lawyer who has called Sioux Falls home since 2012. She began her private immigration law practice in 2013 after receiving a Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship, and in 2017 she co-founded South Dakota Voices for Justice and its sister organization, South Dakota Voices for Peace. Taneeza is also the Chief Executive Officer for South Dakota Voices for Justice.
(Photo of Taneeza Islam, Esq. wearing a black shirt with a greenery background)
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With over 25 years of leadership and teaching experience, Jen is a skilled community collaborator and advocate. She regularly presents and leads complex conversations on topics of diversity equity and inclusion, being an upstander, individual purpose, and the spiritual tapestry of South Dakota. Jen is also the first ever Interfaith Chaplain at Augustana University, and former president of the Mt. Zion Congregation synagogue in Sioux Falls.
(Photo of Jen Dreiske wearing glasses and a red and white shirt.)
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