supports HTML5 videoTay claims she then heard the staff member talking about her with another customer – discussing Tay’s gender identity and saying she ‘lied about being disabled’.
The couple went to complain to a different staff member who called someone else. Tay said: ‘This was in the middle of the shop floor, so I had to explain it once to him, then again while people were shopping right next to tills.’She explained that the whole saga was ’embarrassing and humiliating’ but she claimed the worker replied: ‘Sorry, is there anything else we can do?’ Tay said: ‘I’ve been misgendered before but it wasn’t malicious.
This lady was completely rude, it was the way she was ushering me from one place to the other.’The couple ended up writing an official complaint to M&S, which has since apologised and extended a gesture of goodwill.
The chain said in a statement: ‘We have a zero tolerance approach to discrimination across M&S and we always work to ensure that our stores are welcoming for everyone.‘We are very sorry that Tay’s experience did not meet the high standards of customer service that we set for ourselves, and for the upset that this caused. ‘We have spoken today with Tay to apologise directly and she has accepted a gesture of apology.’Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.For more stories like this, check our news page.Not convinced?