A Michigan woman plans to file a lawsuit against Target after she claimed she was forced to strip down and prove she didn’t steal a bathing suit.
According to Ashanae Davis, the incident occurred on May 22 at Target in Southfield. The young woman said she was leaving the store when she was stopped by a loss-prevention officer who accused her of stealing a bikini. After being handcuffed and joined by another officer, Davis said she was forced to remove her clothes before they would allow her to leave.
“To obtain her freedom, she then has to pull up her shirt with two male employees at Target to prove she hasn’t stolen a bikini top, and then she has to pull down her pants to prove she hasn’t stolen a bikini bottom. And only then would they let her leave Target,” Davis’ lawyer, Jasmine Rand, told WXYZ.
Davis, who plans to sue the retailer for racial profiling, called the incident “humiliating.”
“At first I was in shock, of course, and it was just very humiliating. I felt degraded. It was sad. I was very upset,” she said. Davis also added that, “Someone needs to be held accountable, and it shouldn’t happen to anyone else.”
Target issued a statement to WXYZ about the horrible incident, explaining it had fired the employee involved.
“We want everyone who shops at Target to feel welcomed and respected and take any allegations of mistreatment seriously. We’re sorry for the actions of our former team member, who created an experience we don’t want any guest to have at Target,” the statement read. “Upon reviewing our team’s actions, we terminated the team member who was directly involved and are addressing the situation with the security team at the store.”
Target is just the latest brand to come under fire for racial profiling. Starbucks, Waffle House, and Nordstrom Rack have also dealt with racially-charged incidents in recent months.
