[Vicky.]

http://www.lutontoday.co.uk/news/loc...told-1-4386626

A young mother is fighting back after she says a member of staff at David Lloyd gym in Luton suggested she was a terrorist.

Sahdia Yousefi, 35, had just paid the £1,500 annual membership to join Capability Green gym on October 8 when she asked if she could leave her bag at reception while she looked round again.

She says a male member of staff said to her: “Yes, as long as it doesn’t blow up.”

Yorkshire-born Mrs Yousefi said: “I was so shocked I felt like someone had kicked me in the mouth. I said to the female staff member, ‘Did I just hear that correctly?’ and she replied, ‘He just means that we have had it all refurbished recently so the place would get ruined’.”

After complaining to the manager, Mrs Yousefi, said she was offered a free hot drink, three free training sessions and free towel hire for a month as a ‘goodwill gesture’.

Mrs Yousefi, who has a three-year-old daughter, said: “If I wasn’t insulted before, that drove me over the edge. They think it’s so minor that they can throw a few freebies at me and I will go away. I’m just so angry.

“I need to safeguard my child and myself from derogatory remarks and that is where this company failed. If I had wanted to be labelled a terrorist in a public place I would go to a BNP march where I am sure they would be happy to oblige.”

Legal advisor Mrs Yousefi, who lives in Luton town centre, said: “I just want to leave, I can’t trust them now. The club manager told me the issue had been resolved but I want a written apology. This man didn’t even know me, he didn’t know if I spoke English, he just judged me by the colour of my skin.”

A David Lloyd spokesperson said: “We are very sorry to learn that a comment allegedly made at David Lloyd Luton, which is being investigated, has caused Mrs Yousefi distress.

“David Lloyd Leisure does not tolerate discrimination of any form from either our staff or members and takes any such allegation very seriously.

“We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome all members, and this is reflected by the ethnic and cultural diversity of both our staff and membership.

“The club has endeavoured to resolve this matter with Mrs Yousefi as we value all of our members very highly. We will be willing to cancel Mrs Yousefi’s membership, as she has requested.”

Personally I think the woman in question jumped to conclusions to say she was labelled a 'terrorist'... I have had such a joke made to me before on an airport bus when i dumped my bag and went to sit at the back (there werent seats next to my bag) quite recently. Seems a massive fuss over nowt to me.

On a side note, she must be crazy paying £1500 for a gym membership too

[Locke.]

Chances are it wouldn't have been said to a white/black/asian person, so pretty much

[CharlieO]

Hmm i think it depends upon the in which he said it.
but most likely probs was

[Marc]

It was a stupid immature joke and she was right to think he was rude. And yeah the connotations of what she looks like and having a bomb in her bag is a racial stereotype and if meant in that way then it's racist.

But you'll never know how he truly meant it though.

The fact they offered some sort of freebies afterwards shows some guilt on their behalf so it seems it was racist

[LemonJam]

I don't really get how it's not tbh.

[Vicky.]

Of course it was a stupid thing to say especially in a place that charges that much for membership, shouldnt be cracking any kind of jokes unless you know the customer. But I dont think it was necessarily racist and I think the woman jumped to conclusions tbh. Pretty sure people have said that since way before the 'recent' bombings. And if it IS racist, then I must not look white(or must have also experienced racism), as I have had a joke of the exact same kind said to me on my way back from lanazrote like 4 months or so ago.

[Omah]

Originally Posted by Vicky.

http://www.lutontoday.co.uk/news/loc...told-1-4386626



Personally I think the woman in question jumped to conclusions to say she was labelled a 'terrorist'... I have had such a joke made to me before on an airport bus when i dumped my bag and went to sit at the back (there werent seats next to my bag) quite recently. Seems a massive fuss over nowt to me.

Yeah, me too - obviously, it depends on the circumstances (do NOT joke about bombs/terrorists in airports), but jokes about "left luggage" are commonplace - even in a local village hall recently, I was asked to open my (obviously) dirty boots bag as a "security precaution" .....

[Kate!]

It was rather foolish, but he probably said it to be funny, without thinking how it would sound, my first reaction when I read it was that he was joking, but in these days of political correctness, you have to be so very careful about stuff like that. IMO this woman is milking the situation, and taking it too far, but I bet the guy will think twice before he says owt like that again.

[Tom4784]

She definitely has a right to be angry, I don't see how you can say that it wasn't aimed at her race. I don't know how you could work with the public every day and be so stupid to say something like that.

[Vicky.]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

She definitely has a right to be angry, I don't see how you can say that it wasn't aimed at her race. I don't know how you could work with the public every day and be so stupid to say something like that.

Well mostly because I have had the same thing said to me 4 months ago. And I do not look anything but white. Unless the old bloke who said it assumed I was part of the IRA or some other 'white' terrorist group...in which case I doubt he would have smirked while saying it.

I agree about him being stupid though. As I said, you need to get to know customers before cracking jokes, especially if they have just handed over a grand and a half to be part of your establishment.

[arista]

"racist comment"

Yes it was.

[Marc]

Originally Posted by *Kate*

It was rather foolish, but he probably said it to be funny, without thinking how it would sound, my first reaction when I read it was that he was joking, but in these days of political correctness, you have to be so very careful about stuff like that. IMO this woman is milking the situation, and taking it too far, but I bet the guy will think twice before he says owt like that again.

Definitely! He has some learning to do

[Roy Mars III]

yes

[Kizzy]

I think it's perfectly reasonable request that she keep her belongings with her, both for security reasons and to enable her to safeguard her property.
It was an inappropriate comment a poor attempt at humour and indirectly racist, rather than a deliberate racist comment.
If the manager had simply stuck to the companies policy on personal belongings rather than attempting to placate her my guess is this wouldn't have escalated.

[Omah]

It seems to me that she was making a mountain out of a molehill ..... maybe she's got a chip on her shoulder .....

[CharlieO]

it couldve been just one of those sarcastic things you say nothing to do with the other person.

Like John - 'can i look at your book for a few seconds'
Kate - 'sure, as long as you dont eat it'

its like ... but not aimed at anything in particular. (kate isnt fat)

[the truth]

if thats what he said then yes it is racist

[billy123]

Originally Posted by Marc

But you'll never know how he truly meant it though.

That part is so true people jump to conclusions far too quickly other people trying to judge the comment made without knowing the context and how the person it was intended for will take it is a common mistake!

[Marc]

I'm glad you agree

[thesheriff443]

my reaction to this is, the guy made a silly remark in my mind without thinking,then you read that she is a legal advisor and my alarm bells ring!,straight away she got a witness to the event by asking his colleague,did she hear what he said!,so its no longer his word against her's,she was given compensation in the way of freebie's that more than covered the remark,but she wants more,a written apology is the same as the company admitting blame then she will sue the company for all she can get.

[Niall]

It's obviously racist. He made a snap judgment on her based on what she looked like and said something derogatory to her based around that judgment.

[thesheriff443]

Originally Posted by Niall

It's obviously racist. He made a snap judgment on her based on what she looked like and said something derogatory to her based around that judgment.

i dont see it that way, years ago i was booking into an hotel near the airport with a lovely lady i must!
she was asked for id like a passport but we where not flying anywhere,
she asked why she needed id and assistant said it was beucase of terrosism!
i said to the assistant the only thing they have to worry about is if her 36 dd's go bang

[Livia]

People have said the same kind of thing to me. He'd probably have made the same comment to her whatever her ethnic group and while it probably was stupid, I don't believe it was necessarily racist. I expect some cash will ease her hurt feeling though.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Livia

People have said the same kind of thing to me. He'd probably have made the same comment to her whatever her ethnic group and while it probably was stupid, I don't believe it was necessarily racist. I expect some cash will ease her hurt feeling though.

I have to agree with this, I've heard people say this before as a joke to white people too

[Lee.]

If he had said this to a white British person, I would have seen it as banter... the fact he said this to and Asian woman is just awwwwkard!!

I don't know if be meant it as racist, but it certainly comes across as racist to me!