*Story has been updated to reflect Shiloh King's comments
DURBAN - A BUST-UP saga has emerged at Glo Cosmetics, which recently came under fire for allegedly re-labelling “cheap” Chinese products to sell as their own.
An employee was allegedly assaulted at their Springfield Retail Centre store by a fellow employee last week and claimed she had since faced harassment from the owner, Shiloh King.
The employee, Stephanie Ibrahim, a nail technician, alleged King had accused her of stealing tweezers and telling clients another therapist was not good at her work. This resulted in the fellow employee attacking her with a hairbrush.
“Under attack, I took cover behind Shiloh. Instead of calming the situation or telling my attacker to stop, she moved out of the way and watched as I was assaulted,” alleged Ibrahim.
She said she then left the store and opened a case of assault at Sydenham police station - and obtained a protection order.
After the incident, Ibrahim asked if she could return to the store to pick up her belongings in the presence of police officers. She shared her encounter on social media. She alleged she was then threatened and harassed by King and her fiancé, Elijah Woodarajh, who asked her to take down her Facebook posts on the encounter.
They said in messages to her: “What you should really be posting (on Facebook) is how bad your body odour and breath was, that clients were complaining. No worries, expect a call from our attorneys for breach of contract and I do suspect theft, so read your contract very carefully on what I have the right to do”
Ibrahim has since reported the matter to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and it will be heard on December14.
In a second incident on the day of Ibrahim’s assault, a bust-up apparently ensued between members of Glo Cosmetics and Dial A Bed staff at the Springfield Retail Centre following the incident involving Ibrahim, whose dress was likened to that of a prostitute in the messages sent by King.
Police spokeswoman Colonel Thembeka Mbhele confirmed that a case of assault was being investigated by Sydenham SAPS. No arrests had been made but investigations were continuing.
Despite e-mailed questions sent to Glo Cosmetics, the company did not respond at the time of going to press. Questions were also forwarded to her attorney but he said he was not instructed to act for her on this incident.
UPDATED
: Glo Cosmetics responded on Monday. King said Ibrahim had defamed the business on the Facebook group and was in the process of getting a court order against the Facebook group’s admin. King also the woman “continued to dress inappropriately” despite all staffers being told they were no longer allowed to wear their own casual clothes.
“After the two verbal warnings, the altercation took place between the two staff members and Stephanie decided to leave immediately. We had also had to inform her a week ago that we were receiving too many complaints from clients in terms of her poor work and not being able to keep up with the demand as she had initially claimed that she could do ten clients a day, yet was only accommodating 2-3 max,” said King.
King said a pay cut or resignation was offered to Ibrahim.
“She decided to resign immediately after the alleged assault on her by the other staff member. She was not assaulted. After a meeting to address the above issues, Stephanie lied and denied the allegations,” said King.
King said: “The other staff member in question was brushing her hair and stepped forward to talk to Stephanie, pointing at her and the brush flew out of her hand and hurt her on the mouth or she bit her tongue apparently. I was there so I witnessed it,” she said.
King said she was in the process of getting an order to search Ibrahim’s house on the theft accusations. She said Ibrahim was the only staffer who had access to the stock room and store keys.