Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories company owned by its parent company, Gap Inc. Known for it’s large stores and affordable clothing, many consumers flock to Old Navy to get items that best fit their budget.
James Conley III was one of these consumers when he entered the Old Navy in West Des Moines, Iowa on January 30. However, what should have been a simple shopping trip quickly went horribly wrong.
In a series of videos, James shared the story of a West Des Moines Old Navy employee racially profiling him. He was accused of stealing his own jacket.
In a lengthy but detailed Facebook post, James documented his experience.
“I was accused that I didn’t pay for my blue bubble jacket that I got for Christmas that I wore into the store,” he begins.
Before long, James’ Facebook post went viral with over 118K reactions and 157K shares on Facebook so far. Many people felt outraged and sympathetic for James’ plight. They also commended him for how well he responded to the incident:
Follow the story of James’ videos below.
Prior to this racial profiling incident, James Conley III was a regular customer at Old Navy.
“This is like, super ridiculous right now,” James says in response to the incident.
Indeed, the way the store employees and managers acted in the situation was not the most professional. Accidents happen, but not issuing an apology at the time of the incident adds insult to injury in my opinion.
With the story going viral and being reported on various news outlets, Old Navy released an official statement:
https://www.facebook.com/oldnavy/posts/10155088260692021
James plans to file a civil rights complaint and a civil damages lawsuit in response to how he was treated.
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