A teenage boy has spoken out about the confronting moment an Aldi manager kicked him out of the store because other students from his school had previously been caught shoplifting.
Anita Duesterhaus, from Melbourne, uploaded footage of the incident and slammed the Mornington Aldi store manager for ‘blatant discrimination’ against her 17-year-old son Jai.
The mother-of-nine said her son Jai, who told A Current Affair he was the ‘kind of kid’ who volunteers at youth groups at the weekends.
Scroll down for video
Jai Duesterhaus (pictured) spoke out about how being taken out of Aldi by the manager just for wearing his school uniform made him feel like ‘a criminal’
Jai’s grandmother (pictured) told the program her grandson was the ‘kind type of kid’ who visits her on the weekends instead of getting involved in crime
Jai’s mother Ms Duesterhaus previously said her son had gone to the Aldi to buy lunch for a school excursion and was ‘alone, well presented, polite and had a wallet full of cash.’
‘I felt like a criminal like I’d done something wrong,’ Jai told the program.
In the video, the store manager can be seen escorting the teenager out of the store.
‘How dare you record me mate. You can’t record me,’ he says.
The 17-year-old boy filmed the moment an Aldi manager (pictured) kicked him out of a store because other students from his school had been caught shoplifting there
Jai’s mother Anita Duesterhaus slammed the Mornington Aldi store (pictured) for ‘blatant discrimination’ against her 17-year-old son
‘That’s ridiculous. You’re telling me I can’t come in because I’m from Mornington Secondary College,’ Jai asks.
‘Yes correct,’ the manager replies. ‘Unfortunately like I said, tweet it, Facebook if you like, but unfortunately schoolkids have stolen from the store. Students plural.’
Ms Duesterhaus said she was sent a written apology by Aldi after making an official complaint, but later received a call from the manager defending the move.
‘He told me he would rather lose the custom(ers) of all 1600 families that attend mornington secondary, rather than have them in his store,’ she claimed.
‘I understand that they have had trouble with shoplifting in the past, however I think its utter discrimination to outright ban 1600 students just because of the actions of some.
‘My son is an honest, law abiding and well respected community member.
‘I have always taught my children right from wrong. None of them would EVER steal. Its wrong to punish everyone for the actions of a few.’
In the video, the store manager can be seen escorting the teenager out of the store (pictured)
Ms Duesterhaus said she was sent a written apology by Aldi after making an official complaint, but later received a call from the manager defending the move
Aldi defended the store’s decision to ban students from the school and explained they did not have a blanket protocol to deal with disruptive teenage customers.
‘In store locations where we identify shoplifting, disruptive or disrespectful behaviour that involves school students, our preference is to work with the local school to make the issue known,’ an Aldi Australia spokesperson told Daily Mail.
‘Despite the engagement and support of the local school, a handful of students continued to display inappropriate behaviour.
‘As a result, the Aldi Mornington store made an independent decision to temporarily ban students unless accompanied by an adult.’
The store conceded that the decision to ban unaccompanied students was ‘not a viable solution to this issue’ and said they had since lifted the school ban.
The boy’s mother said she was sent a written apology by Aldi after making an official complaint, but later received a call from the manager (pictured) defending the move