DIABETIC WINS $2,500 OVER JUNKIE INSULT

An insulin-dependent diabetic who was told she was engaging in
"disgusting" conduct for injecting herself inside a busy Knight & Day
restaurant has been awarded $2,500 by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.

Carol Leong, 53, and two friends left the restaurant in North
Vancouver after a waitress and a manager berated her for injecting the
life-saving insulin.

The tribunal said the manner in which she was treated and berated was
a violation of her dignity.

But Knight & Day says the incident arose over a misunderstanding when
two children sitting with their parents noticed the woman injecting
herself.

Their parents, suspecting someone was injecting themselves possibly
with a narcotic, "called over the waitress and said, 'Somebody is
injecting themselves over there,' " said Ken Pappas, general manager
for Knight & Day.

"Now, nobody knows anything about insulin . . . so the waitress went
over to the table and confronted the person about what is going on and
that is where it all went wrong," Pappas said.

"She [Leong] assumed everybody would know [that she was injecting
insulin] and we don't know."

Pappas said no decision has been made on whether to challenge the
ruling.

Leong told the tribunal she must take a blood test and then inject
herself with insulin prior to breakfast and supper.

On the June 9, 2001, occasion, Leong "injected her insulin on her
right side and under the table, hidden by a divider," said tribunal
member Barbara Junker, who made the award.

The waitress came over and told Leong that her actions were
"thoroughly disgusting and that she should have injected herself in
the washroom," Junker said, adding: "All three friends were shocked
and appalled by the comments."

One friend explained to the waitress that Leong was diabetic and
needed to inject herself prior to her meal, but that failed to
convince restaurant staff.

The trio left and quickly found another restaurant where they had a
meal.

But the tribunal noted that Leong could have gone into a coma if she
hadn't eaten following the injection.