A Southfield woman is seeking legal action against Target Corporation after she says she was racially profiled and forced to strip to prove she didn’t steal a bathing suit.
Ashanea Davis said this happened on May 22 at the Target in Southfield. She said when she tried to leave she was stopped by loss prevention officers who handcuffed her and took her to a back room forcing her to show that she wasn’t wearing the bikini underneath her clothing.
“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,” attorney Jasmine Rand said.
“At first I was in shock, of course, and it was just very humiliating,” Davis said. “I felt degraded. It was sad. I was very upset.”
Davis and her lawyers, Jasmine Rand and Maurice Davis, plan to pursue legal claims against Target Corporation including race and gender discrimination.
“Someone needs to be held accountable and it shouldn’t happen to anyone else,” Davis said.
In a statement to WXYZ Target representatives said, “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. 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.”
