Milton Keynes store manager denies discriminating against young woman with Tourette's

A popular paint-your-own pottery studio has become embroiled in a Google review wrangle about a customer with Tourette’s syndrome.

Romy Worthington, who is 20, says she was left humiliated and shaking after being asked to tone down her language during a visit to Chiki Ceramiki with her boyfriend.

She left a scathing review on Google under the name of ‘Ticcers Unite’, claiming: “Not a safe space for people with Tourette Syndrome. They need training on the condition. I didn't feel safe here as they were not comfortable with my tics. They were incredibly rude. We had to leave without finishing our pottery because I was shaking too much from humiliation.”

Romy has now published a video on social media about her experience in a bid to help others and educate people about Tourette’s.

Meanwhile the manager of the Oxley Park studio, which has dozens of excellent Google reviews, has denied she was unreasonable and has accused Romy and her boyfriend of harassment.

"I didn’t do anything wrong and I feel this is harassment... If this continues we will have to take legal advice,” she said.

The saga began in November last year when Romy and her boyfriend booked a visit to paint some festive pottery.

"As I was painting my pottery, my tics were happening as usual. At first, I thought that this was an inclusive environment so it would be okay, and we went at a time of day when most children are in school,” she said.

"However, the owner came out of the kiln room and approached the table. She said ‘I know you probably can’t control it, but we can’t have swearing here’. They said that the reason that they cannot have swearing is because they often have children painting pottery there, however at this time, no children were using their services."

After explaining about her Tourette’s, Romy and her boyfriend decided to leave.

“I struggle to speak for myself in those situations...” said Romy. “ My tics said "I'll sue you" uncontrollably and the manager laughed and said "good luck trying" as if they didn't understand the seriousness of the situation.”

The manager denies being unsympathetic. She told the Citizen: “We always ask people when they book if there was anything we should be aware of. We were not told about the Tourette’s.

"I had no idea. The young couple were painting and the girl suddenly shouted very loudly: “My d*** is going to fall off”.

"Obviously I thought this may be offensive to my other customers. What would have happened if we had children in?”

There were two lots of other customers in at the time and no children, said Dawn.

"I approached the young woman to have a word with her, but I was met with a barrage from them… It was like they had an agenda,” she said.

"They decided to leave, leaving their pottery half painted. At no point did I ask them to leave.”

The manager admits she got flustered when saying: “Good luck trying” in response to the comment about being sued. But she denies being discriminatory and says Chiki Ceramiki is a fully inclusive environment that welcomes all disabilities.

"She just should have warned me about the Tourette’s in advance,” she said.

After the incident, one of the other customers in the store left a review on Trip Advisor to defend Romy. She stated: "There were a few tics, some involving swear words, but nothing too serious… The owner came out and spoke to them before they decided to leave.”

There was “a fuss” outside, said the reviewer.

She added: “What really soured the experience for us was this: Upon the owner coming back inside, she began loudly talking about the situation to her co-worker and other customers in the store, making rude sarcastic comments about the person with Tourette’s.”

The manager denies doing so in a mean-spirited way, saying she was just trying to explain what had happened.

The episode has strengthened Romy’s belief that people need to be better educated about Tourette’s.

”I cannot control these tics, and that swearing tics are very different to swearing intentionally. Swearing tics are just neurologically misfired signals, they have no intention behind them, and are therefore meaningless. It is no different to me ticcing the words “tree”, “carrot”, “floorboard” or any other word,” she told the Citizen.

"I was absolutely devastated that my boyfriend and I couldn’t even have a simple outing together due to the stigma that surrounds Tourette Syndrome. I feel that sharing my story could prevent the same mistreatment from happening to someone else, and raise awareness of Tourette Syndrome so that people can have more understanding.”

Romy added: "Once me and my boyfriend had walked away from the building, I sat down and began crying. Tears were streaming down my face as I vented to my boyfriend, asking “why can’t I just be treated like everyone else?’ and ‘why do I get treated like less of a person for something I can’t control’.

"This crying continued for another hour, and for the rest of the day I was feeling down. It breaks my heart to be treated like less of a person just for being different.”

The manager says the incident has prompted the store to adopt a new policy of always asking people while they are making a booking if they have any additional needs.