Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 8, 1994                   TAG: 9407080088
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder Newspapers
DATELINE: LINDENWOLD, N.J.                                LENGTH: Short

MCDONALD'S OUSTS MAN'S HELPER DOG

Instead, he may cost Paul his job.

Gatsby is a 60-pound English pointer. Paul is a 20-year-old Lindenwold, N.J., man with cerebral palsy. The dog is trained to help Paul perform everyday tasks, from retrieving a dime off the floor to carrying schoolbooks in a special doggy backpack.

Gatsby's most important job was supposed to be helping Paul walk to and from his job at the drive-through window of the McDonald's on White Horse Pike in Lindenwold near Philadelphia.

But when Paul and Gatsby showed up on Tuesday, management said the dog would have to go.

The next day, Paul and his dog trekked over to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Philadelphia, where he filed a discrimination complaint against the franchise and McDonald's Corp.

``They've basically given me no reason why I can't come to work with my dog other than it doesn't look good to the public,'' said Paul, who has worked part-time at the restaurant since October.

The franchise owner could not be reached Thursday.

Alfred Enagbare, the company's regional human services manager, based in King of Prussia, Pa., said McDonald's has nothing against dogs, and lets blind customers bring guide dogs into its restaurants, but it doesn't believe dogs should be allowed in the food preparation area.