‘It’s just crazy’: Jewish Aldi store manager suspended after staffers allege racist comments

EXCLUSIVE

An Aldi store manager who was suspended after team members alleged he made a series of racist and homophobic remarks has denied the “wild accusations”.

Nikita Potapov has worked for Aldi for nearly five years, rising from store assistant to store manager, and previously received glowing performance reviews praising his “relentless focus” and “great relationship” with his team.

Then one day, in late April or early May, the 28-year-old claims one of his team members at his Melbourne store mentioned his Star of David necklace.

“She asked me, ‘Are you Jewish?’, and I said, ‘Yeah, I am,’” Mr Potapov said.

He claims the young woman, who is of Palestinian descent, then asked, “You’re not very popular at the moment, are you?” — and in reference to the October 7 terror attacks said “it must be like another Holocaust for you guys”.

Mr Potapov said he felt the alleged comments were inappropriate but he let it go, and the pair continued to have a “very civil and professional” relationship.

Two weeks ago, on October 17, Mr Potapov was handed a “notice of investigation” letter by his manager ordering him to attend a meeting at head office the following day to discuss “serious allegations” of breaches of Aldi’s code of conduct, which could result in termination.

“I’ve been working for 13 years of my life and never had any issues, this is the first time something like this has happened to me,” Mr Potapov said.

“I literally sat in the office for five minutes with my mouth open. I was just in shock, I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know what to say.”

He was told he was being suspended with full pay, and ordered to hand in his keys.

At the meeting the next day, he was presented with a letter outlining a dozen allegations — around half of which came from the team member of Palestinian descent — of “inappropriate racial and political comments” to staff members, as well as homophobic and other derogatory remarks about staff and customers.

“It was completely made up,” said Mr Potapov, who categorically denies making any of the shockingly racist and offensive statements attributed to him in the letter.

In one alleged incident, the staff member claimed a customer entered the store wearing a Palestine flag T-shirt, causing Mr Potapov to remark, “If Muslims care so much about the war, why don’t they go back to Palestine?”

On another occasion, in the context of the woman explaining how to pronounce her name correctly, she alleged Mr Potapov said words to the effect of, “Well the white way is the right way so I’ll stick with what I’ve got.”

She also alleged that when she asked him why the store “doesn’t have more team members of colour”, he replied, “If black people stop committing so many crimes maybe we’d have more around.”

The staffer also alleged that he called LGBTQ+ individuals “f**s”, in reference to a customer wearing colourful clothing, and that when she mentioned she had a boyfriend, Mr Potapov told her “I thought you were a lesbian”.

The letter further alleged that during a team building meeting, in a discussion about the US presidential election, Mr Potapov made disparaging comments about Democratic nominee Kamala Harris including “she’s black and she’s a woman, I’d never vote for her” and that black women “shouldn’t have that sort of power”.

Several other staff members were named in the letter, including one who claimed Mr Potapov used a racial slur to refer to an Indigenous football player after a poor performance in a match.

He was also alleged to have made other “unprofessional and derogatory remarks” including saying he had to “pretend to give a s**t” about one staff member, “I’d be surprised if he had a girlfriend” about another, and, in reference to a regular customer who is blind, “we should test if he is actually blind cause why the f**k should we be helping him”.

In a letter to Aldi responding to each of the claims, Mr Potapov commented that the incidents “absolutely did not happen”.

He said he condemned racism, homophobia and ableism and that he always treated team members with respect.

Mr Potapov requested further evidence or details about the allegations, most of which did not state specific dates or times.

“Aldi does not propose to provide you with any further information in relation to the allegations,” the company replied on October 28.

“The allegations are sufficiently detailed to enable you to respond. That is, you yourself are in a position to know and recall whether you have engaged in the conduct specified in the allegations.”

He was invited to attend a further meeting with Aldi management on Friday afternoon.

A final decision on his employment has not yet been made but Mr Potapov instructed his lawyers on Wednesday to lodge a general protection application with the Fair Work Commission.

Workers who have not yet been dismissed can apply for general protection if they believe their employer has taken illegal adverse action against them.

“We take allegations of this nature very seriously and have processes in place to ensure they are investigated thoroughly,” an Aldi spokeswoman said. “As this particular situation is still an open investigation, we are unable to comment further.”

Mr Potapov maintains that the allegations are “absurd” and that he had a good relationship with the roughly 16-member team.

“All of my reviews have been star reviews, there’s never been anything negative, and all of a sudden in the space of two or three months I go and do all of these things? It’s just crazy,” he said.

In one recent performance review, Mr Potapov was scored as exceeding his KPIs and praised for his “relentless focus on store standards”.

“Nikita is a great organiser of the team … he has also developed a great relationship with the team,” the review stated.

“I have never met someone with the drive and energy to achieve that Nikita has, I have the confidence that he can tackle whatever challenge is put in front of him and will achieve great things.”

Adam Glezer from Consumer Champion, who is representing Mr Potapov, said he felt Aldi had handled the situation in a “horrible manner”.

“I think he’s been treated terribly,” he said.

“Without providing any evidence, they have turned his world upside down and suspended him from normal duties on the spot. Nikita has been an exemplary employee for four-and-a-half years with incredible performance reviews.”

Mr Glezer said Mr Potapov’s alleged statements were “disgusting and I strongly believe there is not a chance that any of these comments came out of his mouth”.

Mr Potapov, who had been due to take over the Caulfield store before his suspension, said he felt betrayed that a company “I’ve worked my arse off for” appeared to believe “these kind of wild accusations”.

“Why on earth would I risk my job to say something like that in front of people?” he said.

“Why would I make that Muslim comment to a Muslim girl, what is that going to achieve? I’m a store manager, for me to go and say this stuff, I’d have to literally be stupid. Is it because I’m Jewish? I hope it’s not, but you look at the allegations .. what else could it be?”

It’s understood Aldi strongly denies the investigation has anything to do with anyone’s religion.

Mr Potapov believes the staff member was unhappy about being denied a transfer to another store and this may have also been a factor in filing a complaint against him.

“It literally smells like a set-up, like it’s been orchestrated to get rid of me,” he said.

“I want people to know because it’s not fair. I’ve been screwed over.”

frank.chung@news.com.au

Read related topics:Aldi