Are People Allowed to Kick you out of their stores without a valid reason?

Question

Today I went to the mall for lunch (as I am able to at my highschool). I took an entrance on one side of the mall...which enters into a store (I wont say which store it is...because that is not fair), and as my friends and I (Five of us in total) were nearly at the front of the store, the manager came up to us and was having a fit. He said, "NO,NO, you guys walk back outside." We asked him why and he said that it will teach us a lesson. He would not let us go to the main atrium of the mall....he even followed us to the exit that we first entered to see us out. My question is: Is this legal? According to some people, two kids in our school made a small mess in the store. Does that give the store clerk/manager a valid reason to kick us out..if we were not causing any havoc at all...is this a case of ageism? Might I also add that we were not doing anything wrong. Please, if anybody has any (Canadian) law/ info...that states that this is unlawful..please help me. Thanks
Cheers!

Answer 1

Yes I believe an owner operator has the right to refuse service and remove potential costumers. This is called Free Enterprise. You can choose to serve whomever you want within reason, (debatable in the courts) and there is the other side as well. The client can go elsewhere. It's your choice as to who you want to patronize with your business. Two points here: some time ago I was asked to leave an establishment and refused the employee's demand. He then took away his service and I had no choice but to leave. The following years the establishment across the street gained some thousands of dollars in business from me and the other lost. Second point; a convenience store operator asked a pointed question about my property inferring that I had stole from her. I then laid out her product I had picked up to buy and left them with her to put away. I left telling her that the insult was not to my liking and I've never gone back.
It's Free Enterprise. You and I can choose where we buy our products and the owner operators are free to discriminate to their own detriment.

Answer 2

In the US at least, yes, he was well within his rights to boot you. It is private property and most businesses reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, as long as it isn't one of the time-tested reasons for discrimination (sex, gender, color, etc). The fact that you were young really doesn't make your case for ageism, especially since he recently had problems with young kids in his store. In fact, the mall security can kick you out of the mall for any reason as well. It is not your "right" to hang out on private property if the owners don't want you there.

Now, like I said, this is for the US. You Canadians can sometimes be a bit crazy with your social-property laws and whatnot.... !!

Answer 3

In answer to a previous poster: similar sex marriage does no longer open the door to “something else”. Marriage is a criminal settlement regulated through the State. If a guy is into bestiality and needs to marry his sheep, he’s out of success because the sheep isn't legally powerfuble to provide consent and signal the marriage license. If an grownup needs to marry a 13-12 months-previous, the 13-12 months-previous is a minor and isn't any longer legally powerfuble to provide consent and signal a wedding ceremony license. truly, in some states, an grownup can already marry a 13-12 months-previous if the figure(s) of the 13-12 months-previous supply their written consent to the marriage Or, if an grownup needs to marry a 13-12 months-previous devoid of the 13-12 months-previous’s mom and father’ consent, all that the grownup has to do is wait many years until eventually the 13-12 months-previous grows up and reaches the criminal age of consent; then both of them can get married and no accessible end them. So the “slippery slope” arguments are organic nonsense. As for no matter if the frenzy for gay marriage is for tax breaks, properly….what percentage heterosexual couples marry purely for the tax breaks? Why might want to you assume that “tax breaks” are the in straight forward words reason gay couples might want to favor to marry? Why might want to you no longer assume that gay couples favor to get married for an same reason that hetero couples do?

Answer 4

Sounds like he may have just been a "smart a$$" clerk, to me, who didn't like it that you were using the store as a short cut. When I had a store, I welcomed anyone who didn't cause trouble because they were a customer, or a potential customer---if not today, then maybe tomorrow. Maybe if you all brought your parents back and talked to the manager, he may see the light in not having clerks with "attitude" running (potential) customers away. After all, stores pay BIG RENT DOLLARS to be where people come into their stores like in malls. Good luck.

Answer 5

although i believe you were not doing anything wrong at all it is the guys property so he has the right to decide who does and who doesn't saty in his shop

Answer 6

They have that right. You are on their property.