Wheelchair user kicked out of shop

  • 11/10/2018
Imtiaz Aziz feels he was discriminated against and is complaining to the Human Rights Commission.
Imtiaz Aziz feels he was discriminated against and is complaining to the Human Rights Commission. Photo credit: Stuff

An Auckland man who was kicked out of a shop for being in a wheelchair has laid a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.

Imtiaz Aziz went into Bes Mart in Ōtāhuhu to look at T-shirts when the shop owner confronted him and started pointing towards the door.

"He came closer to me and he said 'Get out, get out, get out'. I said 'Why? Why should I get out? I am buying something from here'," Aziz told Stuff. 

"Everyone in the shop just started looking at me like I was stealing something from there."

Aziz says other staff members also approached him, claiming the shop was too small for his wheelchair.

But he says he's been in that shop before and nothing happened - the shop isn't small and his wheelchair easily fits inside.

He felt he had no choice but to leave the shop, but Aziz told the owner that kicking him out was wrong.

"I felt sad and I felt really embarrassed because everyone was looking at me," he said.

The shop owners told Stuff they asked Aziz to leave because his wheelchair was "too big" for their store.

Newshub.