Family outraged after JB Hi-Fi refuse entry to Down syndrome man

The security guard of the store refused to allow James to enter, believing him to be a banned customer – a while male who also has Down syndrome.

Queenslander Victoria Milne posted on Facebook about the incident, in which a security guard refused to let her brother James enter the Mt Ommaney store, after mistaking him for another man with Down’s syndrome who had been blacklisted.

Ms Milne wrote an emotional and lengthy post on Facebook following the ordeal, saying she had “never been so disgusted and mad in my life”.

By Tuesday morning JB Hi-Fi posted the following official statement as the public demanded to hear an apology from JB Hi-Fi CEO Richard Murray.

Crisis communication specialist Nicole Matejic told SmartCompany while JB Hi-Fi did acknowledge the incident on its Facebook page, she was not “terribly impressed” with the response overall.

“As a society we’ve developed a fairly high tolerance now for diversity and accessibility for people with disabilities or any kind of difference”, she said. In his apology, he said that he was proud of the staff at the store where the incident occurred, but that the events that took place there were “disappointing”.

The age of social media justice is alive and well, and one Brisbane native used it to spread the injustice that had been brought upon her family.

“Swift and honest action on behalf of the company is what will determine the level of damage”. “I have sent a personal letter of apology to James and we are continuing to endeavor to contact the family to apologize directly”.

The publicly listed company stated that “JB Hi-Fi and the manager of our Mount Ommaney store believe that we could have managed this in a better way in the interests of James and his family“.