Marks & Spencer ‘apologises’ to customer after ‘trans’ employee offers to help her
Marks & Spencer allegedly said it was ‘truly sorry’ that an employee had offered assistance. (Getty)
Marks & Spencer allegedly said it was 'truly sorry' that an employee had offered assistance. (Getty)
Marks & Spencer has reportedly apologised after a customer complained that an employee, who she claimed was trans, had approached her 14-year-old daughter asking if she needed help.
According to the complaint, the staff member politely asked if the pair, who were hoping to schedule a bra fitting, needed help in finding the right part of the store.
The mother told The Telegraph that the offer of help was “completely inappropriate”, and claimed that the member of staff was a “biological male”. Asked how she knew the gender identity of the employee, she said: “This is obviously the case: he is at least 6ft 2in tall.”
Her daughter was “visibly upset” and felt “freaked out” after they left the shop, she went on to say.
After the mother lodged a complaint, an M&S customer service assistant reportedly wrote in an email: “We deeply regret the distress your daughter felt during her visit to our store. We understand how important this milestone is for her, and we are truly sorry that it did not go as you had hoped.”
Marks & Spencer would ensure her daughter “receives assistance from a female colleague” and would make “necessary arrangements” to ensure her experience was “as comfortable and positive as possible”, the email is said to have promised.
The mother said the response wasn’t “sufficient” and fell “significantly short” of what she expected.
She urged the retailer to implement a policy to ensure transgender members of staff stayed away from young women, to preserve the “safety and dignity of women and girls”.
There is no evidence to suggest that trans people pose a threat to young women. A report from the Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre revealed that 98 per cent of sexual assault arrests in 2022 involved men, not transgender women.
A spokesperson for Marks & Spencer told PinkNews: “We want our stores to be inclusive and welcoming places for our colleagues and customers. We have written to this customer and explained that our colleagues typically work across all departments in our stores and customers can always ask to speak to the colleague they feel most comfortable with.”
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