‘Get Off the Floor’: Woman With a Fainting Disorder Claims She Was Harassed by Walmart Staff for Sitting on the Floor
A woman has claimed that she was told to leave a Walmart due to issues relating to POTS.
In a video posted to TikTok, the woman said that she suffered from the syndrome a nd that staff initially asked her to leave the store due to her service dog not having a vest. However, things got worse when the woman claimed she had to sit on the floor due to her disorder.
A video posted by the TikTok user, “@pinkpoodleplanet” shows Walmart workers standing over a woman and her dog. One of the employees can be heard telling the woman, “Get off the floor,” to which the woman responds, “I can’t; I have POTS, a fainting disorder.”
“Why are you sitting on the floor?”
According to the Cleveland Clinic, POTS, or Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, is a condition that can result in the individual experiencing numerous symptoms when they go from lying to standing up, “such as a fast heart rate, dizziness and fatigue.”
The woman claims that the Walmart staff initially asked her to leave the store with her dog, which she claims is a service animal. “Firstly, I was told to leave because my service dog was unvested.”
While the woman tries to argue with the employees that she has a fainting disorder, they don’t seem to understand her condition, or they aren’t hearing her. “Why are you sitting on the floor?” One exasperated employee asks despite the woman’s repeated attempts to explain herself. The Walmart worker then suggests getting the woman a scooter.
Eventually, one of the employees goes to get a chair for the woman, although it may be too little too late, as the people of TikTok have already put them on blast and some have even called for them to be fired. “She most likely will get fired,” one commenter predicted, adding, “some of the things she said about your service dog are illegal.”
“Please tell me all those employees got fired,” another commented. Meanwhile, another POTS sufferer wrote, “as someone with pots i wouldve gotten up just so i can faint and make them feel bad.”
However, a few suggested the woman may have been in the wrong, as her dog wasn’t wearing a service vest. However, according to ADA.gov, service animals are not required to wear a vest, so asking someone to leave because the animal is not vested could count as discrimination. The woman’s experience is similar to that of another woman with a service dog who claimed a New York Delta flight attendant put his hands on her.
While one commenter acknowledged that the woman did not have to vest her dog, they recommended she do so to avoid situations like the one in Walmart in the future.
(Featured image: pinkpoodleplanet, TikTok)
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