Woman sues Lidl for £6000 over child being accused of theft.

My name is URL wrote: »

What's the big hoopla? People get paid compensation every single day and it's not reported by the media. I think they were right to look for compo in this case, he's a 6 yo ffs.. even if he was stealing the crisps there'd be no need for the staff to manhandle him

They held his arm!! When the fup did that become manhandling?!

Einhard wrote: »

I was held by security in the front of the Centra in Ranelagh a few years back, having been accused of thieving a large bottle of coke. The manager was very aggressive, and was at pains to point out that he intended filing a full prosecution against me. The clerk who had served me less than a minute before denied having done so, and I was held by the security man as the manager called the cops. I eventually asked him to check the security cameras, which he reluctantly did, only to come back and give the most cursory, forced apology. All this happened in the middle of the day, with people coming in and out, including my neighbours and people who knew me in some way.

I told the manager I thought he was a stupid, ignorant fucking cunt, and that I would never shop in his store again. That was it. The idea of suing him, or the store, or demanding that he lose his job would have seemed as ridiculous then as it does now. People can't expect money every time they are inconvenienced or feel "distress".

More fool you, some would say.

The legal system provides a remedy for those falsely accused of theft and unlawfully detained. Its up to the victims to decide whether or not to avail of their right to claim damages - you didnt but many would have after enduring the experience you describe and there wouldnt be anything ridiculous about it.

ch750536 wrote: »

Having dealt with a number of legal situations like this there is a very simple premise to follow.

'It is always about the money.'

If you think making people apologise will ensure this does not happen again, then you are wrong. If you think sacking the girl who made the mistake, you are wrong. Even a €10 voucher would not stop this happening again.

Wiping off a few days profit of the store will ensure staff are properly trained on this.

You can't do right for doing wrong. Ten years ago I was at the checkout in Superquinn in Kilkenny and while I was paying at the checkout, my two brats then aged 5 and 2 made a run for the life sized replica of a Labrador that is the collecting box for Guide Dogs for the Blind which sits on a plinth because first one there would get to sit on the dog's back. The elder one grabbed the back of the younger one's teeshirt and he fell forwards and split his forehead open on the metal plinth. Cue torrents of blood and crying. The staff were like lightening with handfuls of tissues and help with the elder child. Within five minutes one of the managers was driving us to A&E and telling me to send any bills to them. My shopping which I had left at the check out was delivered home and a note telling me not to worry about paying. The next morning bright and early they were on the phone asking me how he was. He got two stitches on his forehead which necessitated a GA. A day later a big hamper full of kiddie goodies from SQ and vouchers from Adams was delivered. Whenever they spotted him the shop for about a year after they would come and enquire as to how he was. I know a lot of this was in order to encourage me not to sue which I had no idea of doing as it was my own fault for not keeping my children under supervision.

The next year I was in SuperValu and had my younger son standing in the trolley. I turned my back to pick up something and the trolley overbalanced and it and him hit the floor. Cue much screaming and crying (from him, not me ). Lots of customers rushed over and helped me. Not one member of staff from the checkouts or Customer Service Desk came over. The next day I met one of the girls who had been working when it happened and she apologised for not coming over to give a hand but apparently it was then their policy to ignore situations like this in the hope that a claim would go away. If he had been hurt, rightly or wrongly (and it would have been wrongly because it was again my fault), I would have sued the arse off them out of spite.

So it not always about the money.

Galvasean wrote: »

'Distress' me bum! He's a kid. He was probably well over the occurence later that evening and would have forgot about it entirely after a day or two.

Why pray tell? Are children incapable of remembering being grabbed by a stranger and being called a thief?

Galvasean wrote: »

'Distress' me bum! He's a kid. He was probably well over the occurence later that evening and would have forgot about it entirely after a day or two.

How the hell do you know? All that can be said, is the store handled the situation very badly and got off lightly. And if you read all the posts, you would realise that this kind of experience lingers on much more than a day or two.

Cabaal wrote: »

Compensation culture,
this country is turning into the states when it comes to the compensation side of things,

A hard lesson in sanctioning a system's failure.

Drake66 wrote: »

Why pray tell? Are children incapable of remembering being grabbed by a stranger and being called a thief?

Wasn't it a multi-pack of crisps? I'm sure he'd have forgotten about it as soon as he started the next packet.

The only reason a 5 year old would give a damn is if his mother was over reacting about the situation afterwards.

sesna wrote: »

:rolleyes:
How is 6000 euro damages against a legitimate business for the incompetence of one clueless worker, whose sloppy actions resulted in nothing more than a minor inconvenience to a mother, getting off lightly? As for the distress and trauma the mother suffered from this experience...

Would you prefer if our ridiculous, horrible culture of litigation was more excessive, and this 6 year old would have been awarded something more substantial. Maybe you'd prefer something along the lines of what Monica Leech got in her defamation award which was €1.9 million.

The world would be better with fewer 'clueless workers' and more observant Retailers. And no, I disagree with your assessment of the incident, IMO, it was outrageous and hence the finding. Learn the lesson and move on, this is a busy world.

I read about this, didn't Lidl offer around €2,500 and the mother refused it, took it further and got the full amount?

The checkout girl probably did overreact by stopping the child marching past with an armful of crisps, but I'd say the mother was delighted at the chance to make some easy money and there she goes, selling her story to the papers for more dosh:D. People like that look out for wet patches in stores to slip on:rolleyes:.

My hubbie had three car crashes in the last 20yrs, all were the other drivers fault. Not once did he claim for injury, just got the car fixed by a panel beater he knows and gave the bill which was quite small, to the other driver.

It's fucking Lidl, fuck them.

sesna wrote: »

:rolleyes:
How is 6000 euro damages against a legitimate business for the incompetence of one clueless worker, whose sloppy actions resulted in nothing more than a minor inconvenience to a mother, getting off lightly? As for the distress and trauma the mother suffered from this experience...

Legitimate businesses still need to train their workers correctly.