The Giant Tiger employee who appeared to be following an Indigenous man around a Regina store is no longer employed by the discount retail chain.
Video of the incident was posted to Facebook by Maxine Stephanie Goforth, who said her youngest son, Ezekial Bigknife, was the victim of “racial profiling and harassment.” The clip has been viewed over 500,000 times since it was uploaded on Friday.
The Ottawa-headquartered discount retailer said in a news release on Monday that the employee is no longer with the company, after initially issuing a temporary suspension.
In the video, Bigknife is seen pushing a shopping cart and gathering groceries while a store employee closely trails behind him. Bigknife pauses his shopping on multiple occasions to question the worker as to why he is being followed, receiving no response.
“This guy’s just following me around G.T. every time I come here,” he said in the video. “Every time I come here.”
“Hey, there’s more brown people in your store,” he adds, apparently speaking to the employee. “You should start following them around too.”
Giant Tiger President and CEO Thomas Haig apologized for the incident in the written release.
“What occurred in the store should not have happened. We are committed to process improvement and delivering the exceptional customer first approach that we are known for,” Haig stated.
The release went on to state that Giant Tiger is undergoing an internal review of its loss prevention program.
Giant Tiger Statement - November 27 2017 by CTV News on Scribd
My youngest son went to get some things for his little family, and this is what occurred! Racial Profilling and harassment!! And same thing today!! This angers me because why do these dumb floor walkers assume that we all shoplift?? This is at Giant tiger in Regina, Saskatchewan.. Avonhurst location..
Posted by Maxine Stephanie Goforth on Friday, November 24, 2017
