A gay man claims he was goaded and called a homophobic slur by staff at a cosmetics shop on the Nottinghamshire border. Ryan Nelson was shopping at the Cosmetic Company in the East Midlands Designer Outlet, run by Estée Lauder, when he received the alleged abuse on April 2.
The 31-year-old from Birmingham, who was out with his partner, Ashur Stanley, claims staff carried on despite being informed he was registered disabled. Estée Lauder said an internal investigation found there was no evidence of verbal abuse.
However, Mr Nelson, who has ADHD and autism, alleges workers laughed at him and at one stage called him a 'f**'. He said it started when a staff member intruded on their conversation.
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"She was saying I was wrong even though it was a private conversation we were having," he said. "I could overhear the same girl laughing about me with a colleague, making fun of the way I speak. It made me feel very uncomfortable.
"I struggle to regulate my emotions as part of my condition. My partner told them I was registered disabled and asked them to stop. As I was leaving she called me a f** and was laughing at me.
"They really goaded me as well. That was the first time I'd been out in months and that's what I had. They said I was talking like a girl and was laughing and sniggering.
"We're in 2023 now, this shouldn't be going on, I've got a disability as well. It is visible when I'm under stress, she should have known and it's unacceptable."
A spokesperson for Estée Lauder Companies UK and Ireland said: “We take all allegations of abuse of our customers or our staff very seriously. Having listened to witness statements, watched the in-store CCTV and spoken to the employee in question, there was no evidence of verbal abuse of a customer.”
Mr Stanley, a 47-year-old company director from Derby, claims he confronted staff after hearing them making comments about Ryan. "She was very rude and had a go before running in the back," he said.
He added: "I was very angry to a point where I had to hold my tongue. I'm disgusted, I'm not having anyone speak to Ryan like that."
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