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A Black woman says she was racially profiled by workers at a T.J. Maxx store in Wisconsin.
In a now-viral TikTok video, Sophia Madrid tearfully recalled her shopping experience with her boyfriend at T.J. Maxx in Racine, Wisconsin.
Madrid said she and her boyfriend visited the store to shop for purses. While she was shopping in the purse section, Madrid said she spotted several workers staring at her and her boyfriend.
Madrid's boyfriend said several employees approached them back-to-back asking whether they needed help.
“The lady at the front was staring at us as soon as we walked in,” the man said. “The lady who was at the front, she starts standing by the door like trying to guard it.”
Madrid said she also overheard associates talking to each other through their radios about monitoring her and her boyfriend. The treatment continued even after they went to the checkout line and purchased four handbags.
In her initial TikTok video, Madrid said she was questioning whether to return the items after her experience.
“I just feel so disrespected, like that was so dehumanizing,” Madrid said. “I felt so humiliated in that moment. I didn’t come here to be mistreated, I came here to shop for bags and now I don’t even want them anymore.”
The TikTok video garnered millions of views and thousands of comments condemning the employees' behavior.
Madrid made a follow-up video, saying she reported the incident to the retailer and was sent a gift card and a phone number for a customer service representative.
“They offered us a $500 gift card, I feel like that’s a way of just kind of like, slapping the associates on the wrist and moving on,” Madrid said. “I don’t care how many times thefts have taken place at your store, you don’t get to falsely accuse people of color as soon as they walk in just because you assume that they are going to steal something.”
Madrid said she hopes T.J. Maxx will better train store workers to serve communities of color.
“All we want is a heartfelt apology from the associates involved. We could care less about a gift card that we will ultimately never use,” Madrid captioned her TikTok. “We will NEVER be stepping foot in this establishment and supporting their business again.”
A T.J. Maxx spokesperson released the following statement amid the backlash, per Atlanta Black Star.
“At TJ Maxx, we are committed to fostering an environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, and we deeply regret that the recent experience of our customer in our Racine store did not reflect this,” the spokesperson said. “We want to make this right. Our leaders have had multiple conversations with our customer to express our sincere disappointment in her experience and explain the actions we are taking to help ensure this does not happen again in our store. This includes a thorough review of what happened with the Associates involved as well as using this as an opportunity to speak with all of our Racine Associates about our expectations for proper customer engagement.”
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