On Tuesday, Tinashe Williamson (38) was supposed to take her daughter on a trip to London, but when the influencer visited one of the shops at Gardemoen Airport, the start of the girl’s trip is said to have taken a bad turn.
In a story on Instagram the 38-year-old profile claims to have experienced racist comments from an employee at ÆRA Fashion Grademoen.
– Now something just happened that makes me so sorry. I’m at Gardermoen with my daughter and we go into @aerafashionairport. Two employees are standing in the till and talking. One employee, an elderly lady, says “look, there’s another Negro coming”. I’m going to be totally blown away, writes Williamson on Instagram.
NRK mentioned the matter first.
– I’m tired
Further in the post, Williamson writes that she was very upset by the comment, and had to take her daughter out of the store. After asking her daughter to wait, Williamson says she decided to return to confront the staff.
– What kind of conversation is this to have in a shop, I’m standing here with my daughter, she is said to have said to the two employees in the shop.
According to the profile, she must have been met with silence after commenting on the older employee’s statement.
– Staying at Gardermoen and crying because I’m tired. We’re just trying to go to London on a girl’s trip for 2 days during the winter holidays, concludes Williamson.
Good evening Norway has contacted Tinashe Williamson, but has not yet received a reply.
Follows up the case internally
In a comment to Good evening Norway, the general manager of the company behind ÆRA Fashion, Airport Retail Norway, Ann Christin Ruud, says that they have contacted Williamson and apologized for the incident in the strongest possible terms.
– Williamson overheard a shop employee using words in a racist and unacceptable manner, which she confronted the employee with. The employee subsequently states that the wording was taken out of context, and that it was in no way a statement with racist content. However, this was not revealed to Williamson, and when Williamson confronted the store employee with what she heard, this was unfortunately handled in a way that is incompatible with good customer service, says Ruud to God kveld Norge.
Furthermore, the Airport Retail Norway daily leader emphasizes that the store employee mentioned in Williamson’s story has also complained directly to the profile, and that Airport Retail Norway takes the matter very seriously.
– Regardless of the context behind the words that were overheard, it has led to a situation where one of our customers feels violated by a store employee. It is not acceptable, and far from our attitudes and our requirements for customer treatment. The case will be followed up internally, concludes Ruud.
– Very serious
Good evening Norway has been in contact with communications manager for Oslo Airport, Harald Nygaard Kvam.
– Yes, we are familiar with the case and we at Avinor think this is very sad to hear about. This is simply not how we want it to be at Oslo Airport, and we take this matter very seriously. Avinor must of course follow up the matter more closely, against the store in question.
Kvam, who has contacted Williamson directly, so far without receiving a response, is not aware of whether Williamson has filed a formal complaint.
When asked what they plan to do next, Kvam replies:
– We engage in dialogue with the store and their employees. There is no room for racism at Oslo Airport, and Avinor takes this issue very seriously. We are talking about an external partner, which has its own employees. Avinor will enter into a dialogue with them, but we are not the employer.
Got an apology
On Tuesday night, Williamson spoke out again on his Instagram story. This time she published a message she had received from the employee at ÆRA Fashion who is said to have made the racist statements she had previously described.
The employee, referred to as “Marit”, had apparently complained to Williamson via text message. In the screenshot published by the profile, “Marit” explains that her statement was not directed at Williamson and her daughter.
– I am very sorry for what has happened. What I was talking about was about something completely different. We talked about language changes in the Roald Dahl books and what was okay to say when I was younger, but which is not okay now, writes the employee at ÆRA Fashion.
Furthermore, she says she understands why her statement was perceived as offensive by Williamson, and says she now understands that the way she reacted was unacceptable.
CALLS FOR CONVERSATION: Tinashe Williamson urges her followers on Instagram not to be passive in the face of racist comments. Photo: Heiko Junge
– Chooses to believe she has learned
For the apology, Williamson writes that she chooses to take it in good faith.
– I am surprised that she was comfortable saying “There will be another nigger” so loudly in the store when I walk by, but I choose to believe that she has learned something today, writes Williamson next to the screenshot on Instagram stories.
Earlier, Williamson thanked the support she had received after speaking out about the incident, and urged her followers not to be passive in the face of injustice.
