Old footage of an angry woman swearing at other customers in a Woolworths has resurfaced online, sparking debate over the response of store staff.
The video was filmed by a group of shoppers after a woman became aggressive towards them at the Rundle Mall supermarket in Adelaide’s CBD in June 2020.
The woman shouted at the group demanding that they stop filming her.
“Never film anyone without permission, understand?” he said.
The man filming was heard telling the woman: “You have to stop,” but the woman approached him and shouted: “You have to stop.”
A Woolworths employee intervened by placing her arm between the two so that the woman could not get any closer to the group, but the women shouted: “No, get them out.”
A staff member then told the man he needed to stop filming the incident.
“It’s private property, you can’t film here,” he explained.
A shopper started filming after a woman started following her group around a Woolworths store and swearing at them (in the photo, the aggressive woman is blurred out)
The aggressive woman added: “You can’t film here, dammit.”
The man tried to explain to the staff why he was filming.
“She’s being aggressive, she’s being aggressive,” he said.
‘I have to film to protect you.
‘She’s been following us and insulting us.’
This further infuriated the woman, who accused the group of following her “up the escalator.”
The man continued filming, which caused the woman to become more aggressive.
Other staff members then intervened and again asked the man to stop filming.
Another customer sided with the group, saying their treatment is “not fair.”
The group leaves, but at the self-service checkout the woman can still be heard yelling and insulting them to get them to leave.
Many Australians were outraged that the man was told he could not film in the store instead of telling the aggressive woman to leave the store (file photo from a Woolworths)
People on social media believed it was the woman who should have been escorted out of the store, not the group.
“What a disappointment, Woolworths staff!” wrote one.
“Why didn’t they ask him to leave?” asked another.
But many Australians were outraged and staff asked the man to stop filming rather than deal with the aggressive woman.
“That Woolies employee who says it’s private property and can’t be filmed needs more training before she gets her next paycheck,” wrote one.
Another added: “You can literally film in any store that is open to the public.”
But Australian companies are considered privately owned, even if they are open to the public and even if they are listed as public companies on the stock exchange.
By entering, you agree to comply with the terms and conditions of the business.
Other shoppers were quick to defend the actions of Woolworths staff, who acknowledged the woman’s antisocial behaviour got worse the more the man filmed.
Australian businesses are considered private property and customers must abide by the terms and conditions set by the store and staff (pictured is a Woolworths store)
“Everyone in the comments wondering why he’s being asked to stop filming has never heard of de-escalation,” wrote one.
“They (the man filming) are just making the situation worse,” said another.
A Woolworths spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that staff members “did everything they could” to calm the situation.
“We are aware of an incident that occurred in 2020 between two customers at a store in Adelaide,” they said.
‘Our store team did everything they could to calm the dispute in difficult circumstances and subsequently called the police to the scene.’
Daily Mail Australia understands that Woolworths has not received any complaints or correspondence from any of the customers since the incident occurred.
No customers or team members were injured.
