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No Christmas spirit! Brazilian mall fires Santa Claus for refusing to hug and take a photo with a four-year-old autistic boy
- Shopping Sul, a mall in Valparaíso, Brazil, fired its Santa Claus character for refusing to take a photo with a four-year-old boy who has autism.
- Angélica Alves took her son, Daniel Alves, to the mall on Sunday and said he was a bit ‘shaky’ as he waited his turn.
- She told Santa at the mall about her son’s condition moments before the photo shoot, but the man said no and motioned for him to take Daniel away.
- The distraught mother returned home with her son and alerted the mall, which investigated the incident and fired him on the spot.
- Daniel has been invited back to the mall to take a photo with a newly hired Santa.
A Brazilian shopping center fired its Santa Claus for refusing to hug and take a photo with an autistic child.
Four-year-old Daniel Alves approached the bearded Christmas character for the long-awaited snapshot he had been waiting for all year when he was unexpectedly turned away, the boy’s mother, Angélica Alves, told the Metropoles newspaper.
“Santa Claus just turned around and said no, there would be no photo,” Angelica said.
The distraught mother said that she took her son to Shopping Sul in Valparaíso, Goiás, on Sunday and that her son was restless as he waited his turn in line and, out of courtesy, informed the other mall patrons around him about the your child’s condition.
Angelica then told Santa Claus that Daniel was autistic before he refused to take the holiday photo.
A man hired to dress up as Santa Claus (right) at a shopping center in Valparaíso, Brazil, refused to hug and take a photo with four-year-old Daniel Alves (center) on Sunday because he was diagnosed with autism. The boy’s mother, Angélica Alves, contacted the mall’s management, who investigated the incident and fired the man on the spot.
He shared an image showing the boy standing next to a Santa’s little helper while the not-so-jolly Saint Nicholas looked away.
The character from the mall then greeted Angelica and motioned for her to bring Daniel before calling another boy over to take a picture together.
“I took Daniel, very embarrassed because I had no way, I had no effort to debate, I had no effort to look for anyone (for help),” said Angélica.
He contacted Shopping Sul management to file a complaint and the Santa Claus was fired on the spot.
The management of the Shopping Sul mall fired a man hired to dress up as Santa Claus for the holidays after confirming a complaint filed by the mother of a four-year-old boy who said the character refused to hug and take a picture with him. child due to his autism condition
An invitation was extended to the family so that Daniel could come back and have his picture taken with a newly hired Santa Claus.
‘It is very painful to see that your son is rejected. I felt that my son was rejected and he hurt me a lot,’ said Angelica. ‘I know I’m going to witness it, but I sincerely hope not, you know? I want my son to be included in society as a normal person, as a normal child.’
In statements to Metropoles, Shopping Sul apologized for the incident and said that the incident “does not reflect the values of the company, which bases its relationships on principles such as ethics, respect and equality.”