Ernest Walker, 47, ordered food at a Chili’s eatery in Cedar Hill, Texas, on November 11. The Tex-Mex chain is among several restaurants that offer complimentary meals to both current and former service members on Veterans Day each year. Walker was waiting for his to-go order with his service dog, who was wearing a certified service tag and vest.

An elderly diner approached Walker and proceeded to question him about his military service. Walker, who was a member of the Army’s 25th Infantry Division from 1987 to 1991, was asked which unit he served. The man accused him of lying, saying “he was in Germany, and that they did not let blacks serve over there,” according to a post on Walker’s Facebook page.

Walker, who is black, dismissed the comments. However, a restaurant manager later stopped him from leaving with his food. The Chili’s employee said a fellow customer declared Walker was not a veteran because he was wearing his hat indoors and that he had lied about the service dog.

The manager demanded identification and kept on questioning Walker. Eventually, he took away Walker’s meal even though the veteran presented his military ID and discharge papers.

An upset Walker recorded part of his conversation with the restaurant manager on video, which he later posted on Facebook. The veteran said the incident left him feeling “grossly offended, embarrassed, dehumanized.”

On November 14 the restaurant chain’s president released a statement saying Chili’s had apologized to Walker and placed the manager involved in the incident on administrative leave. However, many Facebook users argued he should have been fired instead.

Government purse strings may be loose for the sports programs themselves, but spending on medical insurance for student athletes is checkered at best in some of Texas’ metropolitan regions.

The risk of injury, including catastrophic injury, always hangs over high school sports events, particularly the rougher contact sports (including football). Many school districts provide catastrophic care insurance for students who experience serious accidents or illnesses while competing in school-sponsored sports. Policies typically carry high coverage ceilings in the millions of dollars to cover such life-changing events as brain or spinal cord injuries.

But catastrophic care insurance is not mandatory in Texas. Within the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan region, there are five school districts that do not provide coverage for catastrophic injury: Birdville, Burleson, Cedar Hill, Mansfield and Richardson.

When students do not have catastrophic coverage through their family insurance policies, the lack of a school district’s safety net can prove financially ruinous. Medical costs for the families of student athletes who suffer major injuries while competing can be staggering. With some school athletic program officials estimating that up to 65 percent of Dallas’ student athletes lack family health insurance, the ability to fall back on school-district-provided insurance can be crucial.

In the United States, there have been 468 nonfatal injuries that resulted in permanent, severe functional disability of high school athletes between 1982 and 2011. While catastrophic high school sports injuries are uncommon, the costs associated with them are enormous.

As an example, it has been estimated that the first-year cost of care for a patient with partial or total loss of the use of all limbs stands at $1,044,197. The cost of care for subsequent years rises by $181,328 annually.

By comparison, the cost of catastrophic care coverage is extremely small. Some insurance agents peg the cost of a policy at no more than $2,000 per year for the average school district.

“It’s incredible how many Texas kids have no insurance,” said Kent Holbert, an insurance agent for Texas Student Resources. “I certainly think [catastrophic care insurance] is a minute cost compared to some of the other budgetary items they have.”

At The Hale Law Firm, we have helped thousands of clients successfully prosecute their personal injury claims including auto accidents, wrongful death, dangerous products, brain injuries, burn injuries, and defective medical devices. Clients depend on their personal injury attorneys for guidance and legal advice across a broad range of personal injury accidents. To learn more, visit http://www.hale911.com/ or call 972.351.0000.