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“Accuse Me Of Theft Because I Use A Wheelchair? You’re Going To Lose Your Job”
Disability discrimination isn’t always loud or obvious. Sometimes it disguises itself as a misunderstanding or a procedural concern. And on the odd occasion it gets even more disgraceful.
One teenager emailed a store to flag some accessibility issues with their aisle displays. The store called back, but instead of an apology, accusations started flying. The employee’s evidence was airtight, too. A wheelchair user had been seen in that store that week. That was it. That was the whole case.
RELATED:
Wheelchair users face a lot of difficulty on a daily basis, and people’s ableism only add to that struggle
A teenage wheelchair user went to the shop with their mother, but the visit was made very difficult by inconsiderate product placement in the aisles
The teen decided to complain to the store manager via email, making them aware of the situation
But instead of an apology, the teenager was accused of shoplifting, but the accusation was coming from a branch they had never visited
The only evidence the accusing store manager had was that the thief was also in a wheelchair
According to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, people with disabilities make up the largest minority group in both the United States and the world, with an estimated 27% of American adults living with some form of disability. That is more than one in four people, and the number grows when you factor in that most people will experience disability at some point in their lives through age, illness, or injury.
Wheelchair users are not a rare sight. They are everywhere, which makes the employee’s logic that only one wheelchair user could possibly exist in a given week not just offensive but mathematically absurd.
A YouGov study conducted a decade after the UK’s Equality Act 2010 found that 51% of disabled people feel existing legislation is not strong enough to protect their rights, and only one in five believe the current law does enough.
That gap between what the law says and what disabled people actually experience is not a small one. So good on this teen for trying to advocate for themselves and people in the same position as them.
The Robert Bosch Foundation’s Diversity Barometer found that social acceptance of people with disabilities has remained consistently high in surveys, which sounds encouraging until you look at the next statistic. One in four inquiries to the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency concerns disability-based discrimination.
There is a huge discrepancy between what people say they believe about disability and how they actually behave when a wheelchair user visits their store. The employee who lost her job over this particular gap is a small but satisfying data point in the direction of consequences actually following actions.
What do you think we could do as a society to move away from this stunted way of thinking? Share your thoughts in the comments!
People in the comments were appalled by the lousy $10 shopping credit the store offered as an eventual apology
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Tabitha 1 month ago (edited)
Lunchmeat, milk, formula, and bread being stolen sounds like a single mom having a hard time affording everything—-a situation that should never happen to anyone, especially anyone with kids. FFS, the store—-translation: multimillion dollar corporation—-should just write that cost off, or call it a charitable donation. That goes for all basic necessity items that are stolen. Food, formula, diapers, and grooming supplies should be cheap enough anyway, for people who are struggling. There’s always someone whose struggles are so extreme they end up desperate for the most basic things that the rest of us take for granted. You have to start somewhere before you’re finally more secure, so the store executives should use good judgment and critical thinking skills before resorting to draconian measures. Someone’s stealing from you because they’re poor and desperate? Don’t send them to jail. Find them a job. Find them a doctor. Find them a therapist. Find them a place to live. Help them find child care. If you’re financially comfortable, then give back and give a hand (not a handout, but a hand) to those who are drowning. Doing something good like that will pay you back a million times over, maybe not in cash, but in so many other ways.
Mark Alexander 1 month ago
I sincerely appreciate your sincerity but we need to focus on restructuring our entire economic and political world such that no one would need to steal any of that stuff. We can do it. We just have to force our elected leaders to do it. Or get other leaders. VOTE!
Load More Replies... Kelly Scott 1 month ago (edited)
I went to see a music show at a place that has dining booths instead of seats. In other words, you can seat four people per table and they can have dinner while watching the show. I, not knowing this, bought a ticket as a single person. I get to the show and they've set a table clear on up at the back of the room a mile away from the stage because I guess no one except me went without a partner. Well f**k me. But what made me madder than that, the table they placed me at also had a gentleman in a wheelchair because of course, there were stairs down to all the tables. I have never been more pissed off on someone else's account in my life. I mean, I'm sorry, but just shoving people to the back of the house and then saying you're disability compliant isn't going to fly, in my book. And as long as that set up, I am NEVER going back to that establishment and I let them know that, too. What complete jerks!
Tabitha 1 month ago (edited)
Lunchmeat, milk, formula, and bread being stolen sounds like a single mom having a hard time affording everything—-a situation that should never happen to anyone, especially anyone with kids. FFS, the store—-translation: multimillion dollar corporation—-should just write that cost off, or call it a charitable donation. That goes for all basic necessity items that are stolen. Food, formula, diapers, and grooming supplies should be cheap enough anyway, for people who are struggling. There’s always someone whose struggles are so extreme they end up desperate for the most basic things that the rest of us take for granted. You have to start somewhere before you’re finally more secure, so the store executives should use good judgment and critical thinking skills before resorting to draconian measures. Someone’s stealing from you because they’re poor and desperate? Don’t send them to jail. Find them a job. Find them a doctor. Find them a therapist. Find them a place to live. Help them find child care. If you’re financially comfortable, then give back and give a hand (not a handout, but a hand) to those who are drowning. Doing something good like that will pay you back a million times over, maybe not in cash, but in so many other ways.
Mark Alexander 1 month ago
I sincerely appreciate your sincerity but we need to focus on restructuring our entire economic and political world such that no one would need to steal any of that stuff. We can do it. We just have to force our elected leaders to do it. Or get other leaders. VOTE!
Load More Replies... Kelly Scott 1 month ago (edited)
I went to see a music show at a place that has dining booths instead of seats. In other words, you can seat four people per table and they can have dinner while watching the show. I, not knowing this, bought a ticket as a single person. I get to the show and they've set a table clear on up at the back of the room a mile away from the stage because I guess no one except me went without a partner. Well f**k me. But what made me madder than that, the table they placed me at also had a gentleman in a wheelchair because of course, there were stairs down to all the tables. I have never been more pissed off on someone else's account in my life. I mean, I'm sorry, but just shoving people to the back of the house and then saying you're disability compliant isn't going to fly, in my book. And as long as that set up, I am NEVER going back to that establishment and I let them know that, too. What complete jerks!
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