47-year-old woman was accused of stealing deodorant

The employee of a pharmacy located in the Pompeia neighborhood, in Santos (SP), unfairly accused a woman of stealing a product from the store. The case occurred on Monday night (21).

As reported by G1, which reported the episode, the 47-year-old woman is a journalist and was followed and approached on the street by business employees, after being accused of stealing deodorant. The media outlet, which interviewed her, also highlighted that one of the employees was brutal with her and even intimidated her.

In a statement, the Public Security Secretariat confirmed that a Military Police team responded to the call and, upon arriving at the address, on Avenida Senador Pinheiro Machado, they were informed that a client had been accused of the crime of theft. The department highlighted that an employee admitted that he had attributed the crime to the client.

“The woman reported racism in the action, and the employee recognized the error and apologized. The police officers instructed the parties to register the incident with the Civil Police”, wrote the secretariat.

Responsible for the companies Droga Raia and Drogasil, RD Saúde said that it is committed to clarifying what happened and that it “deeply regrets the situation and sympathizes with the client”. The business group stated that it decided to terminate the company’s employees.

“The company emphasizes that the conduct, in no way, reflects the procedures adopted by the company and the service and diversity training offered to employees. We are collaborating with the investigations into the case and reaffirm our commitment to promoting safe environments free from discrimination.”

Since January 2023, the crimes of racial slur and racism have been equalized in terms of penalties. Before that, the penalty for committing racial insults was milder. With Law No. 14,532/2023, anyone who commits these crimes is subject to imprisonment for two to five years, in addition to a fine. In neither case, therefore, is there more bail. Furthermore, both racial slur and racism are considered imprescriptible crimes.

The Procon-SP Foundation notified the Raia Drogasil network this afternoon (23) to provide clarification on the episode. The notification also requests that Raia Drogasil identify the company from which it contracts security services, so that it can also be notified to provide clarification.

Raia Drogasil will have until October 29th to send the requested information. Procon-SP will also invite the company to adhere to the 10 principles for combating racism in consumer relations, following the example of what it has been doing with other organizations.

Procon-SP emphasizes that it has a specific channel for reporting racist attitudes during consumer relations – Procon Racial. The medium requests information about the measures adopted after becoming aware of possible episodes, the participation of outsourced and in-house workers, as well as preventive actions to avoid the repetition of similar cases.