The Disney Store in London is being criticized for forcing an autistic six-year-old to leave its mall outlet in London for not wearing a protective face mask.
Sarah Baillargeon said her daughter Ruby, who had just lost her first tooth, attended the store at CF Masonville Place over the Civic Holiday weekend with the intention of buying a toy with the money she had received from the tooth fairy.
The mother and daughter, who live in Windsor, made the trip to London with other family members knowing full well that the City of London currently has a bylaw in place that requires everyone to wear a face mask in enclosed public places due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The London bylaw states that children under 12, as well as people who have a disability that inhibits their ability to wear a face mask, are exempt from the bylaw.
However, the Disney Store has a company-wide policy that dictates everyone over the age of two must wear a mask. No exceptions are included in the store's policy, which is laid out on its website.
Because Ruby has autism, she has difficulty processing sensory information, which makes it difficult to keep a face mask on.
"We have been working on it and she will keep it on most of the time, just under her nose, but it usually doesn't last a very long time," said Baillargeon.
When they arrived at the Disney Store, Baillargeon said she explained her daughter's condition to a store employee who told her to "try your best" and then allowed them to enter.
"[However], it seemed that every couple steps that we walked through the store, Ruby's mask would be under her nose or off her face. And a different employee came up to me every single time and said she needs to be wearing a mask," she said.
Baillargeon said she repeatedly explained to the store staff that her daughter had autism, but each time the employees' response became less accepting.
It was at this point that Ruby began to have a meltdown because she did not want to put the mask back on her face.
"As I'm handling this meltdown, the staff member comes up to me and says 'she has to have a mask on,'" Baillargeon said.
The employees offered Ruby and her mother a face shield, but Baillargeon pointed out that it would likely cause Ruby to respond in the same way. The staff then told Baillargeon that they had five minutes to pay for their items and leave the store.
"I was in complete shock," she said. "No one else was told that they only had a certain amount of time in the store and they were following us around the store the whole time we were there."
She added that the situation made her feel as if she was a criminal.
"It did feel like we were being targeted at that point," she said. "It's really unfortunate. We tried our best to follow the rules."
Baillargeon said the treatment of her and Ruby amounts to a form of discrimination against her daughter's disability.
"I didn't feel like we were being very supported and we were trying the best we could and it was just a very uncomfortable situation to be in," she said. "I didn't want to ruin the experience for [Ruby] but luckily she didn't know what was going on.
"As a parent, it broke my heart to tell her we had to leave," she added.
Baillargeon has since posted about her experience in a video on Facebook which had garnered more than 1,600 views on Tuesday.
Baillargeon said several family members have also contacted Disney to voice a complaint and each time they have been met with the same response that the employees at the Disney Store were following a company-wide policy.
Disney did invite Baillargeon back to the store but offered no special accommodations for Ruby.
"[To] come back into the same store with the people who gave us a hard time in the first place. It wasn't really a solution to the problem," she said, adding that no apology was offered.
Baillargeon said she's hopeful Disney will step up and do the right thing, adding that she does not want to see what happened to Ruby happen to someone else's child.
She also said she spoke to officials at the Middlesex-London Health Unit and the City of London, and was told the store has the ability to dictate its own mask policy.
Disney is standing firm on its mask policy for everyone over the age of two, stating that it is focused on the health and safety of its employees and customers.
"At all of our Disney stores we have implemented a number of enhanced measures, including a face covering requirement. During these unprecedented times we all have a shared responsibility to do our part," a Disney spokesperson said in a statement emailed to Blackburn News.
The company added it regrets the family was disappointed.
