Manukau ward councillor Lotu Fuli went on the warpath against New World Metro on Queen St after her son phoned her “all upset” after an incident there on Tuesday. Photo / Google
Manukau ward councillor Lotu Fuli went on the warpath against New World Metro on Queen St after her son phoned her “all upset” after an incident there on Tuesday. Photo / Google
An Auckland city councillor claims her son was racially profiled at a downtown supermarket when he was falsely accused of shoplifting and made to pay again.
Manukau ward councillor Lotu Fuli went on the warpath against New World Metro on Queen St after her son phoned her “all upset”about the incident on Tuesday.
“As he [and a friend] went to exit, he was stopped by a security guard who accused him of not paying. Despite insisting that he had, he was escorted back into the store and made to pay again,” she told the Herald.
But she checked a record of his card transaction and found he had paid. There were two transactions of the same amount made within minutes, she said.
“Give yourself an uppercut, New World,” Fuli wrote on social media.
“My poor, sensitive son is really hurt and traumatised by what happened. He said he was not going to shop in the CBD anymore because he doesn’t feel safe.”
She told the Herald her son “left very upset, as this has never happened to him before. He was shaken and embarrassed as it happened very publicly in a very busy store - he was afraid”.
A spokesman for Foodstuffs, which owns New World, apologised.
“We’re very sorry for the upset this incident has caused. Our team would never want any customer to feel unfairly treated.”
He confirmed a contracted security guard at the store approached two customers “after it appeared they might have left the store without paying” on Tuesday.
Manukau councillor Lotu Fuli says her son, of Pasifika descent, was racially profiled when he was accused of shoplifting in central Auckland.
“They returned to the store and made payment for their items. After reviewing the CCTV footage, the security guard realised he’d made a mistake, spoke with our store team, and asked to be notified if the customers came back so he could make things right.”
Labour MP Carmel Sepuloni weighed in with her own experience of shopping with her son.
“It’s always so hard on our kids,” Sepuloni said on social media.
“I hope your boy is okay, Lotu. It was only a few months back that we were at Waiheke, one of our boys had paid for some lollies and then came back to stand with us in the queue.
“He was eating them, and then this lady turned to tell him off for eating them before paying. The audacity to do that in front of us, his parents.”
Fuli went back to the supermarket later in the day. The shop refunded her son.
Foodstuffs’ spokesman said: “When one of the customers’ mothers later came to the store and raised her concerns, our team apologised for the misunderstanding and arranged a refund.
“We take all feedback seriously and have followed up with our store and security teams to make sure the experience and concerns are fully understood.”
Fuli told the Herald: “Young people shouldn’t be made to feel they are suspicious by default, or guilty of shopping while Pasifika - especially not in the biggest Pasifika city in the world.”
Earlier this year, the Government confirmed it would be changing the Crimes Act to give members of the public and retail staff greater power to arrest and detain thieves.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said in February: “This Government will ensure that people working in the retail sector are being effectively protected, are empowered to stop offending, and that offenders are caught and deterred from future offending.”
But police panned the proposal: “The public or retailers may take action they believe to be lawful that could result in either their action being legally challenged, or in the escalation of violence leading to physical harm to the public or the suspect – or both,” police said in feedback to the Justice Ministry in December.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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