‘The head of security doesn’t know the law’: Woman accosted in supermarket for bringing her totally legal service dog inside

A woman has taken to TikTok to express her frustration after being accosted in a supermarket for bringing in her service dog. 

TikTok user @Ellsthefair documented the experience in a video shared on Oct. 22, where she explained that she and her assistance dog Genie were confronted by an employee at the British grocery chain Asda. The TikToker said she was banned from the store for failing to present a “Service ID” or “dog license,” two things which she claimed in the caption have never “existed in my lifetime.”

The employee also banned the TikTok user for “being rude,” and breaching the Data Protection Act by recording the staff member. Further recounting the ordeal, @Ellsethefair explained that she had popped into the store with her service dog to grab a sandwich because she was feeling “dizzy,” at which point she was approached by the employee and told to provide the nonexistent evidence that she needed to use the dog. 

Thankfully, the TikToker revealed she was supported in her resistance to leaving the store by “brave people who tried to advocate for me.” She said she was “thankful” to know that there are “kind people who will speak up when they see human rights being violated,” but the onlookers weren’t the only ones to come to the TikTok user’s defense. 

@Ellsthefair said she later spoke about the incident with police, who told her to file a report because it is “discrimination to ban someone for not presenting ID if they have an Assistance Dog.” The police also reassured her that bans can’t be given to customers for simply being rude, and that it is “entirely legal to record in any space where a member of public has a right of access.” 

While that recount alone is harrowing enough, the accompanying video proves even more shocking. It shows the TikTok user being approached by the staff member, who claims to be the head of security and who tells her that “we don’t have dogs in here.” After clarifying that Genie was a service dog and therefore able to be in the store, the employee’s energy changes, as she refuses to tell @Ellsthefair her name.

After telling the TikToker to stand in the foyer and calling in the manager on her earpiece, the security guard appears enraged after discovering that she’s being recorded, snatching the phone out of @Ellsthefair’s hand. “Don’t record me,” the employee says repeatedly, before finally leaving the customer alone. Users flocked to the TikTok user’s defense in the comments section, with some labeling both Asda and the security guard “patronizing and aggressive.”

Others said the employee “doesn’t know the law” around service dogs, and called for her to be fired. “That’s disability discrimination surely,” one user wrote, with another reiterating that a “working or service dog is allowed anywhere by law.” Swathes of viewers held no bars when referring to the employee, describing her as “embarrassing,” “disgusting,” “smug,” and “horrible.”

It’s just the latest instance of an angry interaction going viral on TikTok, which in recent weeks has fed us everything from feuds between hotel managers and guests, quarrelling bosses and employees, and disastrous family reunions.