Mother and Sister unjustly banned from Asda

[Samkh]

So in October 2015 my mother who is 46 took my sister who was 17 to asda which is our local and only 5 mins away from our house this wasn't a planned trip my mom only went out with my sister who has depression to get her to cool down when they were in Asda my mother saw a queue of ladies at the reduced aisle so popped to the corner to see when she picked an item the collegue called security to ban my mother from apparently "pushing" someone yet no one was pushed so my mother left the item there and payed for what she had when she was about to leave she got stopped by the security who were asian and white telling her she is banned however since my mother cannot speak clear english my sister explained to the security what happened and if we could see cctv for proof the security replied we do not have to show you security and gave my mother a letter but my mother left the letter there and left dissapointedly so the next day i phoned the managet he told me to write a letter when i did he said he never recieved it the 2nd time i wrote a letter again his collegue never even passed the letter on and said that my mother is banned for life so since my mother is a regular customer she asked a lady in asda who works there about the situation she said that then the ban is only 3 months which they dont agree to we also have contacted head office and nothing has been solved the fustrating part of this situation is my mother has a disabled daughter and doesnt drive and takes her shopping in asda and now has to travel further away plus she has been targeted for no such reason Help what shall i do?

[Openlaw15]

Re: Mother and Sister unjustly banned from Asda

So in October 2015 my mother who is 46 took my sister who was 17 to asda which is our local and only 5 mins away from our house this wasn't a planned trip my mom only went out with my sister who has depression to get her to cool down when they were in Asda my mother saw a queue of ladies at the reduced aisle so popped to the corner to see when she picked an item the collegue called security to ban my mother from apparently "pushing" someone yet no one was pushed so my mother left the item there and payed for what she had when she was about to leave she got stopped by the security who were asian and white telling her she is banned however since my mother cannot speak clear english my sister explained to the security what happened and if we could see cctv for proof the security replied we do not have to show you security and gave my mother a letter but my mother left the letter there and left dissapointedly so the next day i phoned the managet he told me to write a letter when i did he said he never recieved it the 2nd time i wrote a letter again his collegue never even passed the letter on and said that my mother is banned for life so since my mother is a regular customer she asked a lady in asda who works there about the situation she said that then the ban is only 3 months which they dont agree to we also have contacted head office and nothing has been solved the fustrating part of this situation is my mother has a disabled daughter and doesnt drive and takes her shopping in asda and now has to travel further away plus she has been targeted for no such reason Help what shall i do?

It seems the security believed your mother was jumping a queue, and consequently banned for no stated period, or period of 3 month or lifetime ban. You say she (daughter) has a disability so politely remind the head office that you believe this is discrimination against a disabled person through association (ie you mother caring for her disabled/ depressed daughter). This means that the mother or daughter (your sister) was indirectly discriminated against by Asda staff because of your sister's disability/ depression.

Remind the person there is also no consistency as to the period of 'ban.' Ask the head office for the procedure where the person has 'disability' by association in terms of 'reasonable adjustment.' So, you would like clarification (confirmation) as to why your mother whose native language is not English was banned, when she has shopped in Asda for many years. Remind Asda head office that this has the potential to be 'victimisation (a detriment, ie unfair treatment) also, which may not be based on Asda policy but merely staff making decisions on the spot.

It may also be, potentially anyway, racial discrimination - ie the security staff made no attempt to take your mother and sister into a quiet room. Did Asda offer the services of an interpreter or offer to provide a staff member who may understand your mother's native language? If your mother's statement to the Asda staff, including security, was ignored, or she was fobbed off, it is potentially racial discrimination. The relevant law is the Equality Act 2010 and EU law.

[Samkh]

Re: Mother and Sister unjustly banned from Asda

Thank you so much and and no interpreter was given plus no queue was even made it was just come and take what you like even the lady who she assumed to pushed was like no im okay yet they still banned her and i know another customer who has stolen from the store and only got a period of month banned and now is going to the store

[charitynjw]

Re: Mother and Sister unjustly banned from Asda

Hi Samkh

Have you tried Resolver?
http://www.resolver.co.uk/

[Kati]

Re: Mother and Sister unjustly banned from Asda

Twitter and Facebook seem to get good results too (makes the company look bad if they don't help )

Twitter accounts:
https://twitter.com/asda and https://twitter.com/AsdaServiceTeam

Fb:
https://www.facebook.com/Asda

K xx

[Anthony72]

Re: Mother and Sister unjustly banned from Asda

A little bad publicity is always good but I think that ASDA is private property and as such can ban anyone for any or no reason if they want to.

I think it would be hard to prove any discrimination in a court because ASDA would just point out that they are happy to take money from anyone and would say they have 10s of thousands of customers from ethnic group x y z and that they provide assistance for disabled shoppers.

Because of that I think that Kati's suggestion of trying the PR route would be the best

Good luck

[des8]

Re: Mother and Sister unjustly banned from Asda

Or they could just try returning.
This ban was imposed some 10 months ago.
I suspect this shop is busy and the chances of being recognized or anyone remembering is very small.

[Openlaw15]

Re: Mother and Sister unjustly banned from Asda

A little bad publicity is always good but I think that ASDA is private property and as such can ban anyone for any or no reason if they want to.

I think it would be hard to prove any discrimination in a court because ASDA would just point out that they are happy to take money from anyone and would say they have 10s of thousands of customers from ethnic group x y z and that they provide assistance for disabled shoppers.

Because of that I think that Kati's suggestion of trying the PR route would be the best

Good luck

It's not necessary to go to court but legal terms like 'discrimination' ...racial prejudice....make their little heads have to think about potential lawsuits. Not only that, Asda has to be seen to be fair and the head office where such allegations indicate discrimination against staff, have a duty to investigate them. In the legal context for discrimination, Asda needs to prove they have a 'legitimate aim' and then that is proportionate (ie the sanction, ban, matches the apparent wrong). The legal terminology is "proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim" is actually based on EU law. If a person says the right words at the right time to the right people, whom are usually high positions, it's amazing how the tide turns.

[Anthony72]

Re: Mother and Sister unjustly banned from Asda

The thing is, the people concerned are not staff but private individuals. As I said before as well, ASDA can refuse access to anybody at any time, it is private property

[Openlaw15]

Re: Mother and Sister unjustly banned from Asda

The thing is, the people concerned are not staff but private individuals. As I said before as well, ASDA can refuse access to anybody at any time, it is private property

Asda are a private company but they have to follow the laws which include Equality laws, in this country: Companies Act 2006.