Two women are suing Victoria's Secret for being treated like criminals after an incident at a Beverly Center store last June. The women claim that racial bias led to their mistreatment and are seeking $4 million each in compensatory and punitive damages, according to MyNewsLA.com.
Lawyers for Shaunda McDaniel and Tammi Robinson filed the suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday. The suit alleges that on June 16, 2015, during a sale, McDaniel was hit and pushed by a shopper who "appeared to be white." Robinson was then pushed by the same woman. The woman refused to apologize and a manager came to investigate. While all three women were being detained, another manager arrived and, without looking into what happened, immediately told McDaniel and Robinson to leave the store. The manager told the other woman she could continue shopping.
"She instructed plaintiffs in the presence of other customers to immediately leave the store because they were in the wrong and were no longer permitted to be there," the suit states, according to MyNewsLA. "Plaintiffs, because they were Black, were racially profiled as suspect, unwanted [and] unworthy of being in [the] store."
The suit seeks compensation for negligence, slander, false arrest, and intentional infliction of emotional distress; it also asks that the chain be ordered to prevent further discrimination.
This adds Victoria's Secret to a long list of chains, from Zara to Barneys, accused of racially profiling its customers. Last year, four former security guards for CVS drugstores in New York filed a lawsuit claiming they were instructed to profile Black and Hispanic customers.
Victoria's Secret has not yet responded to a request for comment.
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