Giant Tiger says worker who followed Indigenous customer is no longer with company

Giant Tiger says a loss prevention employee who was filmed following an Indigenous customer around a store in Regina last week is no longer working for the company.

In a statement issued Monday evening, the retail chain said it is doing a "rigorous internal review" of its loss prevention processes.

"Furthermore we are committed to ensuring that all stores understand the proper process for escalating and remedying concerns of this nature immediately when they are brought forward," it said. 

Last week, 18-year-old Ezekial Bigknife recorded a four-minute video of himself being followed by a plainclothes employee while shopping at the Giant Tiger on Avonhurst Drive.

A lawyer in Regina said the video is a safety concern and a possible violation of human rights. 

"As a company opening yourself up to the public, the public has a right to feel safe in that establishment," said Jeff Deagle, a partner at the law firm Hunter Deagle LLP.

"Your safety is sort of infringed upon when you have somebody following behind you the entire store."

Limits to loss prevention

Deagle said, although loss prevention employees are generally allowed to observe activity on the floor, that following a customer without an apparent reason for an extended period of time raised questions about the employee's motivation.

Deagle said employees can follow a customer for a short period of time if they witness suspicious behaviour, adding they could follow them for longer if they witness them stealing.

"It can't just be, 'I think that person looks suspicious, so I'm just going to follow him around the entire store.' There has to be something more, there has to be some kind of behaviour that is sort of out of the norm."

"Private store or not, I mean, you can't do things that will violate somebody's human rights."

Bigknife said he filmed the employee after he was followed by the same worker on numerous visits to the store.

A loss prevention officer and previous trainer spoke to CBC News and says the point of the job is to work in the background in order to watch if someone shoplifts, which is defeated if the customer knows they are being watched.

Company apologizes​

Giant Tiger said it has reached out to Bigknife to apologize and to update him on how the company is responding to the incident.

Since his video was shared on Facebook, thousands of people have watched and called out the store on allegations of racial profiling.

"I didn't expect it to go that viral that fast, I just wanted to show Facebook, like my friends and family what I was going through.