First Nations man and Regina Canadian Tire settle over racial-profiling allegation
Store policy states employees were never to use force on customers, even if shoplifting suspected
A settlement in a dispute between a Regina Canadian Tire store and a man who was forcibly removed from the store two years ago has been reached — but details of the settlement remain confidential.
Kamao Cappo was ejected from the store on Albert Street in July 2017 — an incident that Cappo later alleged was a case of racial profiling.
"The store formally acknowledges the hurt suffered by Mr. Cappo as a result of the incident and the force used against him," reads a joint statement by Cappo and the store, posted on the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission's website on Wednesday.
A media conference to announce the resolution was held at the Delta Hotel in Regina on Wednesday.
Cappo received an apology from the store's owner, Francois Brien, in the statement.
Cappo said in the statement it was a gesture of good faith, which he accepted, and thanked Brien.
Brien acknowledged "members of Indigenous communities in Regina have suffered and continue to suffer from incidents of actual and perceived racism," but stopped short of calling the altercation a result of racism against Cappo.
'It was a mistake'
After the conference, Brien condemned the physical force but said he doesn't believe it was racially motivated.
"It wasn't a racist act. It was a mistake," Brien said in French to Radio-Canada.
On July 26, 2017, Cappo visited the store to buy a chainsaw, but noticed a problem with the unit he picked just before purchasing it.
He said he placed a one-litre can of oil and a spare chain he was planning to purchase inside the chainsaw's box in order to make it easier for an employee to carry, which is when another employee accused Cappo of attempting to steal.
The situation escalated into physical confrontation, with Cappo being pushed against a shelf and dragged out after he refused to leave.
"If we were white and walked into the store, this would not have happened," Cappo wrote online after the incident.
Shortly after the incident, Canadian Tire announced the man involved in the incident was no longer an employee of the company. No charges were filed, but Cappo filed a complaint with the human rights commission.
That complaint was "resolved in mediation," the commission said on its website, but did not divulge the details of the resolution.
When asked, Cappo did not deny receiving money as part of the settlement, but did not provide specifics.
The store has started to redevelop its retail policy around how employees are to interact with customers, "with a specific focus on cultural competency training to strengthen relationships with Indigenous customers," according to the statement on the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission's website.
The store's policy states employees are never authorized to use force, even when there is a suspected case of shoplifting, according to Brien.
With files from Bonnie Allen