Saleswoman's mouth covered with tape in disciplinary dispute

People who have previously held jobs as shop assistants have many horror stories to tell. From difficult customers to working long hours on their feet, there is not much to recommend the job to others. 

For 18-year-old Maxime Lee, who works at Tekkie Town at the Baywest Mall in Port Elizabeth, there is one more thing preventing her from recommending a job in retail to her friends: the possibility of being humiliated by a supervisor. 

Lee describes a quiet Friday afternoon at the store during which she and a colleague were having a casual conversation: "At around 3pm [on Friday], the store was quiet and we didn’t have much to do, so I went over to my colleague and we started chatting and laughing – which could have been too loud for our supervisor."

The supervisor, identified as Thozama Spielman, called both employees to the back of the store, grabbing Lee by the arm. Spielman then wrote "I don't listen to my supervisor. Now I'm in the naughty corner" on an A4-sized piece of paper before sticking it onto Lee's t-shirt with Prestick. Lee was then told to stand in the store window, where passersby could see her. When Lee asked if she could go back to work, Spielman reportedly taped her mouth closed.

Lee tried to reason with the supervisor, but to no avail: "I apologised to my supervisor and asked to move from the window, but she said no. I then started shouting that I wanted to leave the window and get back to work – and that’s when she got the tape to cover my mouth."

Lee was forced to stand at the window as the people walking by laughed and took pictures of her. 

The incident has left many people outraged. 

Tekkie Town has suspended Spielman and is currently investigating the incident. 

Image: The Citizen