Shuai Yue is proud of his name and what it means.
“My first name Shuai means handsome, beautiful and also smart and a general in the army,” he said. “My last name Yue means high mountain.”
When the international student from China took his car to Fountain Tire at 960 Pembina Highway for an oil change and a winter tire swap last Friday, he was shocked when learned the technicians mocked his name and his culture.
During a three minute routine road test, a dash-cam captured two technicians swearing, speeding and making fun of the customer’s name while driving his car around the block.
In the video you can hear one technician ask “Is his name Wong?” The other technician laughs.
As they park, they mock Yue’s name.
“Shuai Yue. Shoot?” one technicians says.
“I shoot you?” the other responds.
“I shoot you? In the face?” They both laugh.
“I feel so shocked. I cannot focus on my study and work,” Yue said, believing the comments are racist and discriminatory
“I think this cannot be happening in Canada because Canada is a cultural diversity country,” he said. “I had total loss of my words and I feel so angry about it.”
At one point, footage appears to capture the vehicle speeding more than 80 km/h down Jubilee Avenue, where the posted speed limit is 50 km/h.
Fountain Tire fired the two technicians as soon as the store’s owner was made aware of the incident when he saw the video posted online.
“We agree with the customer that the behaviours and attitudes and comments were completely unacceptable,” Kevin Kaniuga, owner of the Fountain Tire location said.
In light of this incident, Fountain Tire’s corporate office sent out a memo to remind stores across Canada about its policies and practices.
When asked, Kaniuga said he’s also looking into sensitivity training as another option.
“It’s definitely a thing that needs to be talked about. It’s not acceptable what was said. We completely understand what he’s saying. We agree with him,” Kaniuga said.
Kaniuga said he has tried to apologize directly to Yue, but so far his calls have gone unanswered.
However, that the matter has been taken seriously has come through.
“It’s good to know some companies like Fountain Tire — they respect the customer. And they don’t tolerate discrimination happening in that company,” Yue said.