Aldi Lifts Student Ban After Confrontation With Store Manager Goes Viral

An ALDI store in Mornington lifted a ban on students from a local high school that was imposed due to shoplifting concerns after a video of a student being ejected by the store manager on November 17 was circulated on social media.Year 12 student Jai Duesterhaus went to the Aldi store on Friday morning to buy food ahead of a school excursion, his mother Anita, said in a November 21 Facebook post that included the video. It shows him being ushered out by the store manager.Jai asks the manager if he is being removed from the store because he attended Mornington Secondary College, to which the manager responds that schoolkids have been involved in a number of shoplifting incidents.Jai’s mother told Storyful that the ban was lifted after the video was picked up by local media. This was confirmed in a Yahoo7 report.ALDI’s Facebook page was inundated with questions and criticisms arising from the post, with the page responding: "In store locations where we identify shoplifting, disruptive or disrespectful behaviour that involves school students, our preference is to work with the local school to make the issue known.“Despite the engagement and support of the local school, a handful of students continued to display inappropriate behaviour. As a result, the ALDI Mornington store made an independent decision to temporarily ban students unless accompanied by an adult.“We agree that the decision to ban unaccompanied students is not a viable solution to this issue and we have since lifted the ban. ALDI will continue to work with the school and if required, with the local police.” Credit: Facebook/Jai Duesterhaus via Storyful