You're reading: Restaurant expels customer with cerebral palsy; first lady stands up for him

Roman Kisliak, 35, was forced to leave a restaurant in Lviv because the staff thought his appearance was "suspicious."

Kisliak, a taxi driver and public activist, is living with cerebral palsy. The behavioral features that the restaurant’s staff thought “suspicious” were a consequence of his condition.

The incident that took place in a popular Italian restaurant Vapiano on Feb. 5 made it to the national news. The restaurant, which is a part of a global chain with headquarters in Germany, went under fire. The released apology didn’t help much, especially since it didn’t indicate that anyone was punished or fired.

One of the many people outraged by the restaurant’s treatment of Kisliak was Ukraine’s First Lady Maryna Poroshenko. On Feb. 10, she published a video address where she said that “such treatment of a person with a disability is at least ungodly” and invited Kisliak for a cup of coffee.

A video of First Lady Maryna Poroshenko inviting Roman Kisliak for coffee and condemning the restaurant’s treatment of him.

“If anyone thinks that he has a right to be arrogant with people with disabilities, I would like to remind them that one car accident is all that stands between any of us and potential disability,” she said.

Kisliak accepted the invitation and will meet the first lady in about a week.

A video by Roman Kisliak where he says he accepts first lady’s invitation for coffee.

But he didn’t stop at that. He urged everyone to take their friends with disabilities out for coffee and to post pictures afterwards using the hashtag “#накавуздругом” – “coffee with a friend” in Ukrainian.

“I want our future children with conditions like mine to not suffer from the Soviet mentality and selectiveness,” he said. “Invite friends like me for coffee.”

His initiative went viral in a couple of hours, with just his Facebook post being shared over 900 times, and the first photos with the hashtag popping up soon.

Kisliak is well-known in Lviv. He moved there from his hometown Donetsk in summer of 2014, escaping the war. After Russia started the war in his native region in 2014, he was helping evacuating people to Ukrainian-controlled territories for the first several months of the conflict, before leaving himself.

When he moved to Lviv, locals helped him raise money to buy a taxicab.

Roman Kisliak drives his taxi in Lviv. (www.facebook.com/roma.kyslya)

On Feb. 5, he was meeting a journalist who wanted to interview him. The meeting was set in Vapiano restaurant. Kisliak showed up early and was waiting for the journalist when a waiter came up to him and rudely escorted him to the exit.

His friends described what happened on social media, prompting a public outcry with many people saying they will never go to Vapiano after what happened.

Vapiano Lviv issued an apology on their Facebook page on the next day. They said they contacted Kisliak personally and he accepted the apology. In their words, the waiter thought Kisliak was suspicious.

“Roman was asked to leave the place, but it had nothing to do with Roman’s disability,” reads the apology. “There was an unfortunate mistake. The waiter thought (Kisliak) looked suspicious.”

The waiter reportedly took a temporary break from his job.