Exclusive
A shoplifter forbidden from Woolworths after stealing around $ 4000 in goods and the harassment of staff has taken legal steps against the supermarket giant for 'discrimination'.
Hani El Kassir, 40, who also uses the alias Sameer El Ali, stable groceries and abused and endangered staff in Lakemba Woolworths, in West in Sydney, on July 19, 2022.
Store Management kicked him out and struck him with an indefinite ban on Woolworths Group Brands, including Woolworths, Big W and BWS.
But only seven months later he was hit with a second notification after he got a fight with guards while trying to enter a Woolworths store in Bankstown.
Now, almost two years later, the ban remains in place – and El Kassir has made an attempt to sue Woolworths for refusing the prohibition order.
In his claim for the NSW Civil Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), El Kassir told the court in November that his shoplifting was caused by a mental disorder that he cannot control.
El Kassir argued that Woolworth's discriminatory against his disability – his mental health disorder – by not allowing him to return to their stores.
A shoplifter has started legal proceedings against Woolworths after being banned from his stores. Shown is a share image of one of the stores of the company in VIC
In statements offered to the court, in January 2024 – 11 months after the second incident – El Kassir submitted an online feedback form in which Woolworths Group revised its ban.
Under his circumstances, the order – signed by the police – had to 'until the written withdrawal' of Woolworths Group's National Investigations/Asset Protection Manager.
Woolworths, however, decided on 19 February that the notification would remain in place and that they would no longer deal with El Kassir because of his history at the store and his employees.
In the next five days, El Kassir Made two more attempts to make his case hear – including calling the company's customer service team and e -mailing an apology with the attached letter from a psychiatrist.
On March 18, when the supermarket had still not lifted the notification, El Kassir lodged a complaint with Anti -Discrimination NSW (ADNSW) who claimed that he had been discriminated against in offering goods and services.
ADNSW rejected El Kassir's complaint on July 15 based on the fact that it was 'misunderstood and lacked in substance'. But on the basis of its legal rights, the agency referred the case to NCAT at its request.
As part of his NCAT -Claim, El Kassir claimed that he did not steal during the Bankstown incident and was attacked by Woolworth guards while trying to enter the store.
For those reasons, El Kassir claimed that there was no basis to be forbidden and that the letter of his apology and psychologist should have been sufficient to be withdrawn.
El Kassir claimed that his mental health disorder ensured that he 'shopping' (stock image)
Displayed: the Woolworths store in Lakemba, where El Kassir was banned in July 2022
In his letter, the psychologist from El Kassir noted that he had a history of mental health problems that led him to “behave in a disturbing way” and “being banned from certain organizations.”
She said that her client was working on managing his negative behavior and had expressed remorse, and it would be greatly appreciated if Woolworths would give him a 'chance to gain access to services'.
El Kassir acknowledged that his behavior was 'unreasonable' and said that he made efforts to put the right, including regularly seeing a psychologist, so that he would not be offered again.
“I'm sincerely sorry and have had different reflections on my behavior and its impact on your employees,” he wrote in a letter of apologies to Woolworths -bosses.
'I now understand that my unreasonable behavior has influenced their mood and mental health towards your employees. I am now more aware of respecting the boundaries of others.
'I have taken steps to resolve the damage caused by my actions, firstly by writing this apologetic letter, and also by identifying the reasons for my behavior, to account to myself, to do what feels good, Contemplation and try not to respond overly. '
Woolworths said it had reconsider his ban on the soil, but in the end it decided that it should not be lifted to maintain the safety of the company's staff.
The company said that El Kassir had a history of 'shoplifting, aggressive behavior towards team members, and annoying, false and unfounded complaints against Woolworths'.
El Kassir was beaten with a second prohibition after he went to Bankstown Central Woolworths in February 2023 (photo)
“Mr. El Kassir reported 10 Woolworths events under the name Sameer El Ali on our internal incident platform,” the company told the court.
'On these incidents, it is estimated that Mr El-Kassir is stolen at least $ 4,000 in products from Woolworths and Big W-stores.
'Mr. El Kassir/ Sameer also filed at least five complaints against Woolworths who claim that he was racially discriminated against, or that Woolworth team members swore to him.
'While Woolworths appreciates Mr El-Kassir's apology and acknowledges that he states that he has sought therapy to tackle his behavior, Woolworth's worries that if it were to increase his ban, this behavior would remain in view of his considerably documented history of theft and incidents in violation of our zero tolerance policy. '
NCAT Senior Member Deborah Dinnen accepted the statement of El Kassir that he was involved in a fight with guards, but said she did not accept that he has no history of shoplifting.
She also noted that there was no reason for him to be in the Bankstown store because there was already a ban order.
Although Mrs Dinnen accepted that it is characteristic of his disability to be aggressive and argumentative, she rejected the claim that shoplifting was a symptom of his mental health disorder.
Mrs Dinnen said that Woolworths had not immediately discriminated against him because they had not treated him less favorably than someone without his disability or something similar.
She also rejected an argument of indirect discrimination and threw his case outside the court.
“There is no objective evidence to support this statement and his treatment psychologist does not report shoplifting,” said Mrs. Dinnen.
'There is no evidence for the tribunal that the respondent decided not to eliminate the ban on the soil and not to continue with the applicant, because the applicant has undergone a handicap.
'The documented evidence of the respondent, and the soil lights that are co-signed by the NSW police, show that the applicant has a history of shoplifting.
“In my opinion, it would therefore not be fair or just to grant leave for the applicant's complaint to continue.”
