Brut. New Jersey restaurant apologizes after writing "hurtful" birthday message on disabled customer's plate.

Brut. New Jersey restaurant apologizes after writing "hurtful" birthday message on disabled customer's plate. → Brut. Happy Wheer Chair Birthday! A restaurant in Weehawken, New Jersey is facing backlash after serving a disabled woman a dessert for her 29th birthday on a plate with the words "happy birthday" and "wheelchair" written on it. → Brut. "Not to complain about a fairly new restaurant in my town, but why would you make my dessert say this?" Antonia Sinibaldi wrote on Instagram with a photo of the Apple Tart Tatin she was served. → Brut. Sinibaldi has used a motorized wheelchair and a ventilator since she was 2 years old, when she was in a car that was hit by a drunk driver and suffered a severe cervical spinal injury. → Brut. She told local news that her table was offered complimentary drinks to make up for the incident, but that the message still "offended" her and those at her table. The restaurant has claimed that the writing was a misunderstanding between employees after the order was placed. → Brut. "Our standard operating procedure is to use table and seat numbers on tickets to identify where each dish should be delivered. In this instance, the word 'wheelchair' was used as a reference to identify where a birthday dessert with a candle should be delivered," management said in a statement. → Brut. The restaurant said that "unfortunately, that notation was misunderstood and was written on the plate itself." They added that "There was absolutely no malicious or disrespectful intent behind the notation," but noted that they "fully understand how seeing that word written on a plate could be deeply hurtful and upsetting." → Brut. Sinibaldi, an advocate for disability rights, did not find the restaurant's apology to be genuine. She wrote on Instagram, "My chair is not my identity," and told local news that people should take away the lesson that a person's disability does not need to be mentioned in every situation. →