Tesco staff member verbally abusing my step daughter

[mrSteely]

My 13 year-old step-daughter was verbally abused and threatened by a tesco staff member. They even chased her through the store. Tescos then told my step-daughter when she informed the duty manager, that they would have a word with the staff member,

I then spent 4 days calling and emailing to complain, finally getting hold of the store manager 5 days later at 7 in the evening (I had to chase them up on it)

The result of a staff member threatening a child in the store? £15 in tescos coupons and a letter apologising for the alleged abuse (it was caught on CCTV, which I requested but still haven't received, and probably never will)
the staff member is still working in the store and still makes my step-daughter uncomfortable when entering the store.

Do you think I'm being unreasonable in wanting the staff member fired? Considering I really should have involved the police?

You won’t get a copy of the CCTV.

Report it to the Police let them investigate.

Jings that's not so much a drip feed as a fecking gallon buckets worth.

Lol what is the cctv going to show exactly?? I guarantee it doesn’t record audio so it will still be your word against hers. Shop cctv isn’t as great as you think, eg it won’t cover the entire shop floor but aisles and areas of interest so chances are the entire altercation wouldn’t be on camera, it would probably benefit obscured in areas which wouldn’t justify your story beyond reasonable doubt. What if the staff member said that they thought she wasn’t stealing? Also Tesco would never share with you what exactly would happen to their employees. If the staff member in question faced disciplinary action or wasn’t fired, they would never tell you as that would be a data protection violation between the emoloyer and employee - you would just receive a stock response instead.

Are you sure your stepdaughter doesn't know Tesco worker's sister? Perhaps it's case of mistaken identity and the woman in Tesco thinks your SD has been bullying her sister. I would make sure you have all the facts to hand before taking this further.

*be not benefit
*was fired

They won't let you see cctv due to data protection, only the police can view it out with the store

That's threatening behaviour and possibly assault - you should report it to the police.

Sounds awful but customers can't dictate to businesses how they can/should discipline their staff. Because, y'know, employment law.

Was the shop assistant young, ie 16 ish, or an adult adult? Either way, they can't behave like that to a customer, whether or not that customer has bullied their sister. I would be keen to find out a bit more about what your dsd has done though op, before taking this further.

It is never OK for an adult to bully a child.

How old is Tesco lady?

If she's 16 they could all be at school together. Of course a 16 year old shouting at a 13 year old isn't right, but at 16 she's hardly got an adult's brain either.

I would be more interested in knowing what your DD has done to the girl at school. If she is a bully, that is a bigger problem for you in the long run.

Even if my SD and this staff memebers sister were enemies its no excuse for an adult to verbally bully a child

In my mind that is debateable but it would give a solid explanation for what happened.

I remember seeing something on watchdog (or similar show) that you are actually entitled to any piece of CCTV which contains your image. They sent a guy out and kept a record of the time he walked past each camera, then requested the footage with their legal right to have it, and only got about 50% back.

Since you're her guardian (or your partner is) then I think you have a legal right to the footage. Keep pushing for it. And go in to speak to them instead of on the phone. But make it very clear what happened (you were really unclear here and not helpful when asked what actually happened until several people pushed you).

@Harvey342009

Yes they can. If it contains your image, then you are entitled to a copy. She's a minor so her guardians are entitled to a copy.

Here is a quote from the government's website.

"RequestCCTVfootage of yourself. You have therightto request closed circuit television (CCTV) footage of yourself. TheCCTVowner must provide this within 30 days, and can charge up to £10. MostCCTVfootage is deleted 30 days after it's recorded."

Get the CCTV.

The shop are hardly going to hand it over to some random, and it would have no audio anyway.

You need to make the request in writing etc, check here and then either you or your step daughter need to follow the steps to get the footage.

www.gov.uk/request-cctv-footage-of-yourself

However if it includes anybody else's image it's a whole different ball game
If you are that concerned that you come on here I would contact non emergency number and talk to them

@liverbird10

They have too. They are legally required to hand over CCTV containing an image of an individual if that individual requests it.

See above link.

Thanks for the info. :) Not CCTV of the OP though, is it.

Other than your SDs word have you any evidence what actually happened? Any witness's?

Did the employee touch your DS? Don't think there's actually that much the police could/ would do.

If you want to follow this up further I'd suggest going to the store and trying to speak to a manager in person although if you've already spoken to one on the phone and they've brushed you off then you probably won't get much further as it sounds like they want to sweep this under the carpet to avoid the hassle.

Still think there is more to this also..

Cctv (if it caught it) may not have audio but could have the reaction. If the girl was backing up into a shelf looking worried that does back up what happened. More so when they were then followed.

It seems likely that the staff member has chosen an inappropriate, yet possibly quite effective, way of dealing with some sort of bullying.

If it’s as black and white as you’re saying - ie a shop assistant calling your daughter a bitch, backing her into shelves and then chasing her through a shop - the store would have got many complaints from other shoppers about this and would be offering you more than £15.

For someone to act like this and say those things I would say it makes it look like your SD has been bullying the girl in question. As for your question would it make it right even if they were enemies? Teen suicide from bullying on and offline at the moment is very much in the media and if that woman is trying to scare off your daughter so that doesn’t happen to her sister, i wouldn’t say it makes it right but it would make you understand her motive.

There's a lot of missing information here but I'm betting it's because OP's SD has not told her everything. Age of the shop assistant would be interesting.