In Local News..Business Ends Up In Serious Trouble Over Bathroom Dispute, Violates State Laws.

Retail Store 'Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory' in Huntington Beach, California is public outcast #1 in the news over a situation involving a parent and their daughter. Read on..

"I explained she had diarrhea and couldn't hold it and told them she was about to go on the floor. They refused again and never offered me any alternatives. I begged them to have a heart and that she was 5 but by that time she had lost it all over herself and me. I ran with her in my arms to the movie theater that let me use their bathroom. I cleaned her up, threw out some of her clothes and went back to the Chocolate Factory - asking for names and number of management. I again pleaded with them to use their heart in situations like this."

Quote from Consumerist: 'As it turns out, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory may have violated existing California Code provisions. An organization called the American Restroom Association has a Uniform Plumbing Code that requires a "toilet facility for customers, patrons, and visitors of all mercantile and business establishments." The Uniform Plumbing Code has been adopted by California, so it seems that there IS a requirement for businesses to provide restroom facilities for customers.

From the OC Register: "A story about the incident, posted on the consumerist.com Website, sparked a backlash that has led to death threats, said the store's owner, Bonnie Overturf, who was not there during the incident last Thursday. Overturf said her employees were following insurance policies for her store, and there were at least a dozen restrooms near the store the mother could have used. The posting on the site said the mother, daughter and friends were eating outside at the Bella Terra Mall when the girl began crying and screaming "diarrhea, diarrhea." The mother ran into the chocolate store and asked to use the restroom but was refused multiple times without being offered alternatives, she wrote. "My daughter was humiliated, forced to defecate on herself due to the lack of compassion exhibited by the store," she wrote. The mother took the girl to a restroom at a movie theater around the corner where she cleaned her up and threw out some of her clothes.

The owner of the store had the usual excuse: "Overturf said that it could be dangerous for customers to walk through their hallway, which is lined with supplies, to their back bathroom. At another Rocky Mountain store Overturf owns in Westminster, a man had snuck into the back in 2006 posing a fire extinguisher inspector, she said. Nothing was stolen from the store, she said. "Even if insurance wasn't an issue, there is the possibility of theft and people getting hurt," Overturf, a mother of three, said Wednesday.

"Overturf said her employees were following insurance policies for her store, and there were at least a dozen restrooms near the store the mother could have used."

Alex Chasick, an editor with consumerist.com, said he did not talk with Overturf or Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory officials before posting the story on Monday. The story has had more than 116,000 views and 330 comments, he said.

The contact info for the place of business can be found here. I urge a permanent BOYCOTT and the handing out of flyers to customers in the interest of the free speech and a public right to know whom they are supporting. Stockteam.com

Reference Links and Credits:
Consumerist Article, Part 1
Consumerist Article, Part 2
OC Register