(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)

A woman's erroneous claim she was banned from a Canadian Tire store was dismissed by the BC Human Rights Tribunal.

Natalija Chalapova was shopping at one of the retail chain's BC locations in March 2020 when employees asked her to leave. The tribunal decision didn't identify the store's location.

The Lithuanian-born woman claimed she was discriminated against because of her age, gender and status as an immigrant, according to a decision published, Dec. 19.

It started with a dispute with another customer on March 20, 2020,  when a man pushing his cart through an aisle asked Chalapova to make space for him. She refused to move.

As he turned to leave the aisle, accepting Chalapova wouldn't move, he suggested something to the effect of "be a better resident" or "we should all be better human beings with each other," according to the decision.

Chalapova pursued and began taking "close range" photos of him, then he reciprocated and took photos of her until the "interaction became heated," the decision read. She asked a store employee for help and the issue went to store manager Steve Lavier.

After speaking with both of them, Lavier allowed the other man to keep shopping and asked Chalapova to leave.

She returned a few days later with her husband and kids, when she struck up a conversation with store employees that embarrassed her in front of her family. Chalapova claimed she was placed on a "banned" list, questioned whether her photo would be on the wall with the shoplifters.

Despite her embarrassment and subsequent human rights claim, the store employees told her she wasn't banned from the store, and she shopped there twice after the March 20 incident.

Canadian Tire applied successfully to dismiss her claim entirely.

The tribunal found not only was Chalapova's claim to be banned from the store erroneous, but she could not prove she was discriminated against when the store manager sided with the other customer who asked her to give him space in the aisle.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.

News from © iNFOnews, 2023