Pizza Hut: Councillor was offered better seat

Petaling Jaya city councillor Anthony Thanasayan was not barred from a Pizza Hut outlet in Kuala Lumpur.

Rather, Thanasayan was offered to be seated at a “more comfortable and spacious” area at the Mid Valley Pizza Hut restaurant, the fast food chain company has claimed.

Apologising for the “miscommunication” in a statement yesterday, Pizza Hut said Monday's incident occured as the area in which Thanasayan (right) had requested to sit in did not have proper wheelchair access.

“Due to the set-up of the outlet, which is narrow for wheelchair access, it would be most inconvenient and uncomfortable for Mr Anthony Thanasayan to have sat in the area that he had requested.

“This was all done with good intention to ensure Mr Anthony Thanasayan would be most comfortable and would have no problems moving around in his wheelchair,” it said.

It added that it does not have a policy of barring wheelchairs from its restaurants, nor does it discriminate against “customers with special needs”.

“Our immediate action during the incident was to extend an apology and explanation of the situation from our restaurant manager to Mr Anthony Thanasayan,” Pizza Hut Malaysia senior general manager Low Kang Moon said.

Thanasayan has called off a press conference on the matter scheduled for this morning, saying he would be attending a meeting with Pizza Hut representatives to discuss the matter.

In a blog posting on Monday,  Thanasayan, a vocal advocate for persons with disabilities, alleged he was asked to "get out of (a Pizza Hut) restaurant" because of his wheelchair.

He claimed that the restaurant manager told him that the outlet had "a strict and clear policy not to welcome customers in wheelchairs", as per instructions from Pizza Hut's area manager.