Actually. I would have used their bathroom. They would have had to physically restrain me from walking into the employee area and doing it.

I would have dealt with the police afterwards.

But I am not a 14 year old girl.

Someone should post the address of that store so we can all send hate post cards.

Post cards so that anyone can read them.

Figure the manager would throw away hate mail.

Hell, I'm all for it!

I hope they left her poopy pants in the middle of the floor or on the counter.

And I certainly wouldn't have paid for anything, I would have grabbed it and left and let them get the cops after me if need be.

Honey, you are obviously so much nicer than I am because Rudey's suggestion is the very first thing I thought of when I read the article! :D

FOR ONCE In the entire time i have been on GC i finally agree with Rudey.....dam the heat must be really getting to me. lol

I mean this was a girl with her mother, not just her teen aged friends, who explained fully she had a diease and a disability at that and i hope they make a lot of noise about this and i hope Old Navy will publically apoloigize and fire the bastard manager who has not one ounce of compassion

The story said that the incident happened a few months ago and the manager is still on the job. The store's address is easily found on the Old Navy Website. It's the one in Norridge... ;) :p

As a person with Crohn's, I have to say that I have never had someone deny me use of the restroom, even without the card from the CCFA (Chron's Colitis Foundation of America). I would be horrified if someone did deny me use. I can attest to the fact that it's very painful and you have to go NOW when you have to go. You do read a lot of these types of stories on Crohn's support newsgroups and bulletin boards. I do live in fear of that situation and I suppose I could wear Depends, but I don't know that even Depends could uhhhh... accomodate the Crohn's. If I know I'm going somewhere without an easily accessible restroom, I just don't eat that day, to avoid the risk. I also know, in every store I frequent, exactly where the restrooms are and the first thing I do when I walk into a new public place is locate them. I love WalMart because they have TWO .. one at the front of the store and one in the back. I don't go to Meijer's if I've eaten because they only have one in the front of the store. I'm surprised she could wait up to ten minutes...

I don't wish Crohn's on anybody, except that manager....

Dee

I was just thinking that! Give him Crohn's for a day or so and see if he pulls that crap (no pun intended) again.

I hate when people in managerial positions (that are likely making not much more than minimum wage) try to pull the "I'm so big and bad" card. This is Old Navy, for crying out loud!

Yes, very true. I've worked in several different retail establishments where bathrooms were for "Employees Only" for the very reason of insurance purposes. I use to have women come into the store and ask if there little 4-year-old could use the bathroom. After explaining that for insurance purposes we couldn't allow it, they would whine that the public bathrooms in the food court (which were right across from our store) were not clean enough for their little one. Give me a break.

But, I have to say that Old Navy is wrong in this situation. After showing the card which explained her disease, I believe that the manager made a very poor decision. I'm shocked that this manager is still working there. I'm guessing that now that the store has gone public this manager won't be there much longer.

I understand insurance policies... but I think the manager has a moral obligation as a human being to provide for someone in distress.

Even if it cost me an insurance payout and a rise in my premiums, I couldn't stand by and passively cause harm to someone. Sometimes human decency just has to trump money.

I have had Colitis for over 13 years and when You are having a falir up you are having a flair up!. The day after I got married I went into the hospital for 30 days with food because of the illness. Its the worst pain you'll ever feel. Thank God Colitis is treated by medicine, but there isn't a cure for Chron's or Colitis, its something you learn to live with.

Rudey has over 7,000 posts, surely we could find a few more you agree with lol? Or do you disregard the message when you dislike the messenger?

Thats a fairly limiting trait.

Okay, as a person with Crohn's I'm gonna get pissy here and defend this girl til I'm blue in the face. You have NO IDEA what it is like to have this disease and a comment like that just infuriates me. Saying to wear Depends is like telling a person with severe clinical depression to smile. The types of bowel movements associated with Crohn's (especially severely acute Crohn's) really make Depends useless. As for her shopping at Old Navy, we try to live as normal lives as possible, and normally getting to use a private restroom isn't a problem. You show the card, they let you go. What that manager did is simply wrong and he should pay for what he did to that poor girl. I want to strangle him for his actions (or lack thereof). If only every person could have Crohn's for a single day... y'all would see just how hard it can be to live with something so awful. But, that's just how I see it.

ETA: Just thought I'd throw in my own little stories here... first one is how I found out Depends are useless- midnight in december, depends, ambulance ride from the urgent care center to the ER, hot EMT, bowel movement so painful I couldn't hold it. Yeah, that was mortifying. Second one- I almost had an accident the day I was being fitted for the first time into my wedding gown. That would have really sucked. I have never run that fast in heels in my life.

Interesting...I would love to hear how it turns out. I think that if Old Navy fired a manager for upholding a policy, they would be opening up to all sorts of ish.

The full article describes the outcome too. Old Navy has changed their policy to indicate that if it's an emergency, a restroom must be made available. The manager is still working there. An Illinois state senator is sponsoring a bill making ir illegal to refuse bathroom use in an emergency situation.

It seems to me that it would only be common sense. What if someone was suddenly overwhelmingly nauseous in a store? Wouldn't you, as a manager, rather have them be sick in your toilet and not on the floor of your store? Pregnant women in early phases can become sick suddenly too. This isn't just a Crohn's issue.

Dee