{"items": [{"author": "Andrew", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/175962532534168?comment_id=175972602533161", "anchor": "fb-175972602533161", "service": "fb", "text": "The rest of the question is, may buses and restaurants deny you service for \"no legal reason?\"", "timestamp": "1340488539"}, {"author": "Danner", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/175962532534168?comment_id=175974019199686", "anchor": "fb-175974019199686", "service": "fb", "text": "Private and publicly owned may fall into question there, and busses have legally been deemed public for several contexts.", "timestamp": "1340488781"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/175962532534168?comment_id=175977612532660", "anchor": "fb-175977612532660", "service": "fb", "text": "@Andrew: Unless there's a law saying so, what would compel them to provide service when they didn't want to?", "timestamp": "1340489318"}, {"author": "Lorenzo", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/175962532534168?comment_id=175985919198496", "anchor": "fb-175985919198496", "service": "fb", "text": "Good research Jeff!", "timestamp": "1340490720"}, {"author": "Andrew", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/175962532534168?comment_id=175992885864466", "anchor": "fb-175992885864466", "service": "fb", "text": "The laws governing the MBTA are here:
http://www.malegislature.gov/.../PartI/TitleXXII/Chapter161A
I'm not going to read them this evening.
I don't know whether the T is compelled to provide service, or whether they can legally refuse service with or without cause. Note for instance, that there are laws that protect certain groups of people from harassment, but they don't protect all people from harassment. You can't harass someone because of \"race, color, religion, sex or national origin,\" but that's not the same as saying you can't harass people in general. I'm not a lawyer, I have no idea what the actual rules are.", "timestamp": "1340491784"}, {"author": "Robert", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/117732328885787456164", "anchor": "gp-1340557349594", "service": "gp", "text": "Wow. It sure reads as if the person you were talking to was desperately trying to not answer your question.", "timestamp": 1340557349}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1340561223"}, {"author": "Andrew", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/175962532534168?comment_id=176383539158734", "anchor": "fb-176383539158734", "service": "fb", "text": "Seems that in the chapter I mentioned above, section 5a outlines the duties and obligations of the MBTA. There is text:
\"Said duty shall provide that no person shall, on the grounds of age, race, sex, religion, creed, color, sexual orientation, national origin, or handicap, be denied participation in, or the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity administered or operated by or for the authority.\"
Nothing about feet, unless barefoot is your creed.
Re the T's concerns for public health, I imagine that the health risk of allowing people to ride barefoot is lower than that of packing riders into cars and having people coughing all over each other.", "timestamp": "1340563189"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/175962532534168?comment_id=176403689156719", "anchor": "fb-176403689156719", "service": "fb", "text": "@Andrew: in as much as it is a possible public health issue it should be the purview of the board of health.", "timestamp": "1340565530"}, {"author": "Andrew", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/175962532534168?comment_id=176413165822438", "anchor": "fb-176413165822438", "service": "fb", "text": "Jeff, yes, I don't think MA has barefoot laws, though a handful of towns do, mostly wrt restaurants.", "timestamp": "1340566727"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/175962532534168?comment_id=176419215821833", "anchor": "fb-176419215821833", "service": "fb", "text": "@Henry: My problem was that while they have no policy requiring shoes I ran into a pair of bus drivers who insisted that there was one. If the MBTA decided to make a policy requiring shoes I would be unhappy, but that doesn't bother me as much as individual employees making up and enforcing rules. This isn't Pinewoods' situation.", "timestamp": "1340567487"}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1340596474"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/175962532534168?comment_id=176758522454569", "anchor": "fb-176758522454569", "service": "fb", "text": "@Henry: at the time I was thrown off the bus I already believed the mbta had no shoes policy and that the driver was making things up. I'd spent a while on their website and looking online.
When I was working at pinewoods I think I had to wear shoes in the kitchen and on the dance floor. If one of the people on grounds had told me I had to wear shoes outside, that would be analogous to the bus case: people making up rules.", "timestamp": "1340629418"}]}