DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Racial profiling invades the toy store.

Black shoppers sue Toys 'R' Us for discrimination 1 hour, 53 minutes ago


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two black shoppers have sued Toys "R" Us saying they were subjected to racial discrimination and unjustified scrutiny at a store in New York.

Patricia Drayton and Valerie Kirk said in the lawsuit that the store in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, discriminated against them by asking them to show their sales receipts. The suit was filed in Manhattan Federal Court on Tuesday.

Drayton said in the lawsuit that she was stopped by a security guard at the door of the store and asked to show her receipt. After refusing to do so, she was made to wait while the employee checked with a cashier to see if she had purchased the merchandise, the lawsuit said.

According to court documents, Kirk was told by a man working at the story that Toys "R" Us's policy required that she show her receipt to him prior to leaving the story. Kirk said in the suit that she refused to comply and was banned from shopping there.

The lawsuit said black shoppers are subjected to compulsory inspection of their sales receipts while white shoppers are not.

The women are asking the court to give the suit class action status to represent all black shoppers who have been subjected to the same procedures by Toys "R" Us.

Metro One, which provides loss prevention services to retail stores, and several people employed by the two companies are also being sued by the women.

They are seeking compensatory and punitive damages of at least $200 million each on behalf of the class.

Representatives for Toys "R" Us and Metro One were not available for comment.

Toys "R" Us, the country's second-largest toy retailer, is owned by a consortium that includes Bain Capital Partners LLC, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Vornado Realty Trust.

The company still reports its financial performance because some of its bonds are publicly traded.

web page

Kroger has asked to see my reciept before. I'm going to sue!!!! (By the way, I'm white)

The local Toys R Us does the same so this isn't a unique situation, in fact it has happened to me! As a matter of fact, the security guard was African American!

I'm calling Jackie Chiles......KAAAAACHIIIIING !!!!!!!!

Oh dear, someone asked to see a receipt? It must be rascism - let's sue for $200 million.............

What the hell is wrong with people - show the receipt, walk out the door.........I'm white and have been asked to show a receipt.........so what, I sue for rascism?

Geez, this is pathetic.

I can sue? Cool, because Sam's Club has been harrassing my caucasion behind for years now asking to see my receipt.

im afraid that in a free society we have one choice when wronged, DONT GO BACK TO TOYS R US. dont sue them. that is just silly.

Here's a kick in the head for you all;
I witnessed two (2) A.A. women in a local Toys R Us actually "shop-lifting" in the store with empty bags ! What they did was enter the store with empty bags, fill them up along the aisles as if they were shopping and than they presented to the store security a "false and or out-dated receipt" that was from a previous purchase or dropped onto the ground by some careless shoppers before . The sad part of all of this is when I turned them in, I was called all kinds of names and told that I sold my own "sisters out" (A.A myself). How do you think I felt? If it was legal to slap a criminal, I would have, but it would have been harder because they were women and I don't believe it that either....

"When good men do nothing, evil prevails".

Your a good man! These scumbags are costing us a pretty penny so that the
retailers make up what they've stolen!

I just can't believe some people. LOTS of places have you show your receipt to someone standing at the door before you leave. If you didn't take anything, what's the problem?

Did these ladies even bother to see if the secruity asked other customers to do the same thing? If they'd seen the guards let all the white customers out without asking for a receipt and none on the black folks, then they'd have an argument. But if that were the case, you'd think it'd be discussed inthe article, and it's not.

I see your point, but I disagree to an extent..........a lot of stores nowadays have "spies" roaming the aisles to watch for people "lifting" things. Most of the comes from people buying a few things, but sticking a couple under clothes, etc.......the people go through, pay, get a receipt for what they showed at the register, then walk out.

With the spies, they keep an eye on these people that are loading up, radio ahead to the guy at the door - boom, you caught a shoplifter.

Why don't they stop them IN the store, as they are hiding merchandise? Because technically, it's not shoplifting if you haven't gone through the register - in other words, if you stop someone in the aisle when they put "whatever" in their pants, or in another bag they have with them, all you can do is make them put it back - no criminality since technically they didn't "leave the store without paying"........

Um it's hard to believe a store would stop only black people for checks...this person is smoking crack...i wouldn't believe something like this in this day and age at a store like Toys R us unless i see it for myself....if it was some mom n pop store in some little neighborhood maybe but no way in hell this big of a chain would do that...

If you wanted my opinion and it's just my opinion, they may have been guilty of something...Like you said, all they had to do was show their receipt....

Quote:

---

I am skeptical but really won't make up my mind until I hear more about it.

---

Oh for the love of.... just jump in. These women are obviously either guilty of something at the store or have such a deep rooted complex about themselves that they could probably use the insanity defense...

And isn't the Bronx a fairly diverse neighborhood? It's not like they were in Beverly Hills where they might be the only 2 blacks in the store that day....

I just keep hearing Eddie Murphy in my head talking about Toys B' Us and sh*t....

Alright people...calm down!

No, this isn't racism. I know how these ladies feel though. When every white customer ahead of you gets a smile and a have a nice day, and you in turn get a "can I see your receipt".

It's not worth the effort of a lawsuit, or $200 million.

My African-American, liberal mind, does not agree with this at all. It allows the nitwits on message boards like this, to make their race jokes.

It sets us back even further.

Well Mike and others,
Apparently you opinion does not include reading because IF you actually read the article, it states that the women had to wait for security to check with the cashier to see if they purchased their items:

Quote:

---

Drayton said in the lawsuit that she was stopped by a security guard at the door of the store and asked to show her receipt. After refusing to do so, she was made to wait while the employee checked with a cashier to see if she had purchased the merchandise, the lawsuit said.

---

SO if she did not purchase the items, she or the other shopper would have been picked up for shoplifting and not able to sue! But again, we all know about people and opinions!!

Well Pdawg,
Why would you want to use good logic like that on this board!!! I mean you know people of this board probably think the Denny's incident and others did not really happen!!!

Hey DogNDC,
If you read what I wrote instead of speaking before you read, you would have seen where I stated that all they had to do was produce a receipt. ..End of discussion.. .As often as I go into shop and stand in lines to leave these stores with other diverse people of this country to present a reciept for proof of purchase, what's the problem than?????

So the Denny's incident which seemed legit automatically gives validitiy to every incident!?

This seems to be Toys R Us policy! As I stated I've seen happen to every customer out the door in my local store! there's always security present.

As was stated if you bothered to read it...shop elsewhere. KB Toys maybe?

I have been asked for a reciept at different stores fom time to time ..... and in fact have a relative who works part time as a "greeter". (and pseudo security at the door)

At some times, the "rules" there have changed, ranging from checking receipts for each (5th,10th, etc) customer, to checking receipts for anything not in a bag. (such as larger or odd shaped objects) There have been several other degrees of scurtiny on purchases, I am sure due in no small part to any shrinkage at the store in question. It happens at a grocery store I go to frequently as well. Anything not bagged brings a request for the receiot at the door. I don't even put my receipt away before exiting a store anymore. No big deal.

I think the case should be an easy one to decide.

Let's face it,there are security cameras at exits of most every store these days.

Simply "go to the replay".

If in fact this is a case of racial profiling,the camera footage will plainly show that. If it's not,it will clearly show that as well.

It's easy to jump to conclusions one way or the other. But in this case,the video won't lie.

JMHO

I am with you Arch all the way on this one.....

What happened at denny's?

Agreed, all they had to do was show the receipt. Rather they chose to make a big deal out of nothing.

Nothing more than looking for a quick payday as opposed to actually earning an income.

I have been asked for a receipt before at the door. It is reallly quite simple: Here is my receipt, have a great day and bye bye.

Denny’s And Racism Page 2

In 1993, Denny's restaurant chain fell under an uncomfortable spotlight as it faced the first of several lawsuits and thousands
of claims of racial discrimination of its customers. San Jose, California was the site of the first incident, when several black
teenagers were refused service unless they agreed to pay in advance (Smith, 1996). The following year more and more issues
came crashing down on the popular casual dining chain. One of the most well-known cases was that of six Asian-Americans
of Syracuse University. The students visited a Denny's restaurant late at night and waited over 30 minutes for service. As
white patrons were regularly seated and waited on, these six students were kept waiting. When they complained, they were
forcibly ejected from the establishment by two security guards. Outside, they were beaten by a mob of white customers that
spilled out of the restaurant while guards stood by and did nothing. These six students were pushed, shoved, jeered, and
racially insulted, and not a single law enforcer present did anything to stop it. Three black students were threatened with
mace by guards when they attempted to aid the Asian-Americans. A white student accompanying the group was also
threatened. Two of these students were knocked unconscious during the assault ("Students Accuse," 1997).
On the same day that the first lawsuit was settled, six black Secret Service agents visited a Denny's restaurant in Annapolis,
Maryland, and were forced to wait an hour for service while their white companions were seated promptly and were waited
on with second and third helpings (Guillermo, 1997). Countless other incidents similar in nature occurred throughout the
Denny's chain. One Sacramento resident, a white male, was seated promptly at a Denny's restaurant. When his wife, a black
woman, came to join him, the waitress's demeanor altered drastically. She slammed down a plate of spaghetti in front of the
black woman, splattering her blouse with tomato sauce. Another black Denny's customer, Douglas McNeal, was told that he
and his friends had to pay for their meals at the same time they ordered their food. McNeal observed a white couple order and
pay up at the counter after their meal, as usual. He questioned the waitress: "We asked the waitress about it and she said some
black guys had been in earlier who made a scene and walked out without paying their bill. So the manager now wanted all
blacks to pay up front" (Ferraro, 1995).
These are only a few examples of the discrimination that Denny's displayed. Thousands of black customers have claimed
similar suits.
Impact of the Action on the Firm
The original reaction by Denny's top management was that the discrimination cases were "isolated incidents." In 1994, a
Denny's regional manager said, "We hire from the population. We get the good with the bad. But, yeah, it makes you wonder
if this wasn't blown out of proportion" (Kohn, 1994).
In 1993 and 1994, following the class-action lawsuits filed by the black teenagers and the Secret Service agents, thousands of
complaints came in from across the country. Attorneys from the United States Justice Department concluded they were
dealing with the largest case ever in the history of the public accommodations section of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Thousands of people joined the six black Secret Service agents' class-action lawsuit.

http://www.mdcbowen.org/p2/bh/badco/dennysgbu.pdf

200 million for asking to see your damn receipt?? What's the matter with people... unreal.

You know,I mentioned what seemed to be a fairly logical way of determining the validity or lack there of,of the claims they're making. But it seems everyone would rather go off on a tangent than to even consider it? Odd how things work that way...................

I'll try again for anyone trying to "get to the truth of the matter".

There are video cameras in all of these stores. And most generaly have one pointed at entrance and exit points of their store. (look at any break in video,even in conveniant stores and you'll see that's true)

Why don't you guys support the idea of "looking at the store videos for a period of days prior to this incident"? The tape can't lie. They can't dismiss it by going off on a tangent. What they CAN do,is prove or disprove the claims being made in this case.

It's a clear cut way to determine if this store did or did not use racial profiling on their customers. Would you really like to find out the truth? Or just sit here and mock the fact that profiling in many forms exists within our country today?

I have no way of knowing in this case one way or the other. But then again I'm not the one that's claiming to. And since none of you seem willing to "look before you leap",I'm pretty confident you don't know the facts or validity of this case either.

JMHO

I don't know if that is possible. Some stores do not keep tapes or digital recordings for any period of time. They can look at what they do have and it might show some tendencies but it might not be conclusive. The store has refused comment thus far and are probably running an internal investigation. If they find any evidence disprovung the story I'm sure they will put it out there.

Mike,
I did read what you wrote before I typed, And maybe then you can explain this quote:

Quote:

---

they may have been guilty of something

---

So then please explain, since I did not read this, what you meant by they were guilty of something?? I mean since you did type it and maybe I did not read it correctly, what did you mean?? And as far as producing a receipt, yes, it is a small thing, an d Home Depot in this area has this practice also. But they do it to EVERYONE leaving the store. Now if those women can prove this occurs only to certain people, then they have a case!!

1oldMutt,

Quote:

---

So the Denny's incident which seemed legit automatically gives validitiy to every incident!?

---

No it does not give legitimacy to every incident. But just like this case or people initially thought that Denny's, a large chain, would not have allow things like that to go on. We do not know what happened in that store since neither you or I were there. SO maybe waiting until more info comes out or a checking of the security tapes, etc might be the thing to do!

Quote:

---

This seems to be Toys R Us policy! As I stated I've seen happen to every customer out the door in my local store! there's always security present.

---

As does Best Buy and Home Depot as far as checking receipts at the door. BUT those places that I mentioned check EVERYONE! So we will have to wait if Toys R US or the security firm checked everyone also!

Arch,

Quote:

---

So, show your damn receipt and leave the damn store without waiting............Pretty simple

---

Yup, I have to do it in the stores I frequent. But the difference might be is that in the stores I go to that have that policy( Best Buy, Home Depot..etc) they check everyone!

Quote:

---

why shouldn't some black person,

---

Well according to these two women, it was the black people who were being asked about their receipts, not the others! SO I guess that answers that question!! Maybe instead of jumping to some conclusion BEFORE an investigation - wait, that would show some intelligence.. sorry about that