Huckleberries Online

New Law Opens Biz Toilets To Public

Posted by DFO

May 12, 2009 9:40 a.m. • 9 comments

Item: Finding a toilet could get easier in Washington/AP

More Info: The original proposal required retailers without public restrooms to allow people with inflammatory bowel diseases to use employee restrooms, if they had an identification card or a letter from a doctor or nurse. That provision remains in the new law. But it also requires businesses to allow any customer to use an employee restroom if three or more employees are working at the time, and the request doesn’t pose a security risk.

Question: Do you support this law in which retailers are required to allow any customer to use their private restrooms, if more than 3 employees are working?

Nine comments on this post so far. Add yours!

moscow_minidoka on May 12 at 10:06 a.m.
Having spent 4 years in Seattle, including one with children, I know how absolutely impossible it is to find a public restroom in an emergency. Spokane is not nearly as bad, but just try to find a “public” restroom (that hasn’t had a homeless person/drug fiend explode inside of it) in downtown Seattle with a 3 year old who is about to pee his/her pants.

I welcome this, although I realize it possibly sets up the potential for abuse by exploding homeless drug fiends. Perhaps there should be a clause for refusing service if you can smell the person before you see them…
toadman on May 12 at 10:51 a.m.
As a person who suffers from Ulcerative Colitis (cousin to Chrons), yes.. I support having the ability to destroy bathrooms across the state with noxious emanations.
Charlie on May 12 at 10:52 a.m.
Sounds like a law written by lawyers for future lawsuits.
lewis8457 on May 12 at 11:36 a.m.
Charlie said it; this opens the door for all kinds of stuff from accidents to property damage, loosing customers, germs, lawsuits, etc. Down to the poor janitor that cleans the restrooms. I have worked at the STA plaza and it is bad. Not like your bathroom at the office imagine vomit everywhere, feces that for some reason did not make it into the toilet, and that is the good stuff. I am sure you know, people that have nothing do not respect what you have, and act accordingly.

If the government wants to give people access to a toilets then they should use some of our money and make restroom blocks every 2 miles have a parking lot full of toilets.

More government just shows how stupid things are going to get. Pretty soon they will make it a law some guy walking down your street can enter your home and use your toilet.
Liz on May 12 at 1:28 p.m.
I hadn’t thought of that. My first thought was that it was a good idea.
but you are right about the lawsuits

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.