A Winnipeg Sears store employee whose racially-charged exchange with a customer was caught on video and posted online has been suspended.
The video, posted to Facebook on Saturday under the account of Ethan Pineapple Frobisher, shows a Sears employee arguing with a customer who says he was chastised for putting his child on a lawnmower displayed in the store.
Frobisher, who witnessed the argument, claims the employee told the customer to remove his child from the lawnmower, warning that the display “was not a play area.”
In the video, the employee is heard asking the man, “Let me guess, you just came off the boat?”
Upon hearing the insult, the customer is seen asking a nearby manager to intervene.
“That’s racist discrimination. I want him fired, I want him fired – you heard that,” he says.
The customer is then seen yelling a series of profanities at the employee.
The video had garnered close to 600 shares and several comments since it was posted to Facebook.
“There’s no excuse for saying what the guy said and I hope he loses his job. But is the other guy any better?” wrote Daniel Christian Csatari.
“Regardless of how the situation was handled, nobody should ever have to put up with racism. Disgusting,” wrote Chris Siglos.
Kiana Ashley, a Facebook user who claims the customer in the video is her father, also commented on the post.
She said her father had every right to fight back against the employee.
“Racism should not be tolerated with ease under any circumstances,” she wrote.
“Regardless of the severity of my dads (sic) retaliation, this employers racism should not be condoned,” she added.
A Sears manager confirmed to CTV News Sunday that the employee in question has since been suspended.
She said the store’s general manager has been made aware of the situation, and that it was unfortunate that other customers and employees were forced to witness the exchange.
