Shopper who claimed he was 'racially profiled' in Lidl while buying 5p bags of shallots in a Christmas offer wins £25,000 in compensation

A shopper who claims he was 'racially profiled' after buying too many bags of 5p shallots in Lidl has been awarded £25,000 in compensation. Lidl said the judgment was made 'in default' as they had not been able to submit a defence in time – and there was no finding of discrimination against the retailer as a result. The customer had visited the food store in Whalley Banks, Blackburn, Lancashire, on December 20 last year to buy three bags of the vegetable as part of Lidl's '5p veg for Christmas offer'.The offer only permitted three packs to be bought per customer, and shoppers could only visit the store once in a single day.According to the man, he was at the checkout when he was approached by a member of staff accusing him of 'coming into the store twice' that morning.The shopper, who was dressed in 'religious clothing', later claimed he had been 'racially profiled' which Lidl strongly contested.However he took the company to court for racial discrimination under the Equality Act and was awarded £25,000, with £1,250 in costs.A spokesman from Lidl said it has a 'zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination of any kind'.The man said: 'I had only entered the store once. The accusation was made publicly, in front of other customers and staff.' A shopper who claims he was 'racially profiled' after buying too many bags of 5p shallots in Lidl in Whalley Banks, Blackburn in Lancashire, has been awarded £25,000 in compensationHe said that 'being stopped, challenged, and denied service in that way', made him 'feel he had been singled out because of his race'.The disgruntled customer said that because he was 'visibly distressed' a member of staff called a manager over through their headset.He said: 'I was angry and trying to understand why I was being treated the way I was'.However when the manager was called, the man said an argument ensued where he demanded an explanation of the accusation.He said: 'I told him two or three times to finish what he wanted to say, because I wanted a clear explanation.'I was left distressed, unsupported, and confused, and I reacted as anyone would in that situation.'At the time, I was recovering from a recognised mental health condition.'The incident triggered an immediate panic attack, which is documented in my medical records.'My symptoms included shaking, chest pressure, difficulty breathing, and an inability to drive for a period of time.'A week later Lidl Customer Care emailed him an apology, but he said it was 'not sincere'.The man said: 'A generic customer care apology was not good enough, and given the severity of what happened, an apology at that stage felt too little, too late.'The incident had already caused significant harm, and the way it was handled afterwards only made things worse.'Despite the apology, I was directed into a prolonged insurer-based process involving repeated contact, delays, and the need to revisit the incident multiple times.'This prolonged the distress and worsened my mental health.'The man made a civil claim against the German supermarket chain under the Equality Act using the Government's online civil money claims service.On May 29, the County Court handed down a judgment that Lidl must pay £25,000 to the man plus interest and costs, totalling £26,382.The man said he had not returned to the store since the incident.A Lidl GB spokesman said: 'At Lidl GB, we are committed to fostering an inclusive, welcoming environment for every customer and colleague.'We have a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination of any kind, and we take any allegations of this nature extremely seriously.'While we are unable to comment on individual legal proceedings, we can confirm that, due to an administrative error made by a third party, we were regrettably unable to submit our defence for one of the sets of proceedings within the required timeframe and as such, a default judgment was made.'They also said there were 'no findings of discrimination on the part of Lidl or its employees'.