Market vendor suspended after complaint

Hamilton Farmers' Market has given suspended vendor Ethilda (Tilly) Johnson a day's grace to make arrangements for her Tilly's Produce stall before barring her from the market for 30 days.

Johnson, 82, has been issued a 30-market-day suspension that was supposed to start Saturday after a customer complained about a “physical altercation.”

Saturday morning, however, Johnson returned to her stall and met with acting market manager Bill Atanas. She said she told Atanas she needed time to make arrangements to dispose of fresh produce, and that he agreed to give her the day.

“He said the suspension still stands. When I told him I needed until the end of Tuesday, he said no,” said Johnson, who plans to return to the market on Tuesday. “I told him he will have to go get the police to get me to go.”

She says she was suspended because of an alleged incident that occurred between her and a patron on May 21.

She said she is being accused of hitting a female customer on the hand for touching her produce.

Johnson is well-known within the community for giving out annual scholarship awards to local students, and was inducted into Hamilton's Gallery of Distinction in 2006.

She worries the suspension is an attempt by the farmers' market to get rid of her because of her age.

“This may be malicious forethought and they're trying to get rid of me,” she said. “If so, then that is discrimination.”