"I went into Costa in Carterton this morning at around 10 am on the 28th May 2021. I am exempt from wearing a mask so out of respect i covered my face with my top. On entry I was shouted at across the store by the manager whose name is leah, she said, excuse me you NEED to wear a mask, I explained that i am exempt and had forgotten my lanyard, I offered to show her on my phone, she then said well if you 're exempt why are you covering your face? I explained that it was out of respect. I went on to ask if I could use the toilet and she said only if I 'd bought something, I explained that I had a medical condition and a card saying i need to use the toilet in an emergency, leah still said no, I then said if i don 't use the toilet quickly i will end up peeing on the floor, leah then said well pee on the floor then, this was in front of a shop full of customers in a food establishment. She then told me to leave her shop! I explained that I am also a manager and that she was being very rude and discriminatory towards me, as i have a sensitive medical condition which was being forced to be explained in front of the whole shop. This was very embarrassing. I then left the shop and she followed me outside and went to sit down and smoke a cigarette, again in front of all of the customers. I said to her all i wanted was to use the toilet, all she kept saying was that 's nice, this was extremely patronising and made me angry, she then said she was going to call the police as a woman who is twice her size was intimidating her, now.,being a larger lady i felt that she was also being discriminate towards my size. All in all I was discriminated against on 2 separate occasions in a short space of time and embarrassed in front of a shop full of people, as we walked away from the store i heard leah and another colleague named aisha laughing at me with customers. I went back and told her that i was going to report her and all she said was do it She then started on my daughter as we went back to speak to the other manager, leah threatened my daughter and barred her from the shop. This is unacceptable behaviour from a customer service manager and i have reported this incident to her head office and been promised that this will be internally investigated. I will be following up with the complaint as it is unhygienic to tell a disabled customer to pee on the floor in any situation never mind a food establishment. This person should not be working with the general public as she is rude and patronising."
