Black Customer Gets Accused Of Stealing His Own Jacket, So He Makes Them Regret It
First impressions are often wrong, and in this case, it was also humiliating. 29-year-old James Conley III has shared a series of videos, showing a West Des Moines Old Navy employee accusing him of stealing a jacket. “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 wrote.
Conley’s story has attracted the interest of the entire county, accumulating over 113K reactions and 150K shares on Facebook. The man plans to file a civil rights complaint and then a civil damages lawsuit. He claimed that the nationwide reaction to his Facebook post helped him realize how huge and widespread of an issue racial profiling is.
Scroll down to read what James and Old Navy itself have to say about the incident.
More info: Facebook
James Conley, a regular customer of Old Navy has just had a shopping experience he will probably never forget
Leaving the shop, James couldn’t believe what just happened
Soon after, Old Navy (owned by Gap Inc.) released a statement about the situation
Regardless, James plans to file a civil rights complaint and then a civil damages lawsuit. What’s your take on the incident? Let us know in the comments below!
So glad he recorded this nonsense and got the names as faces of those people. They're pathetic and he truly kept his cool through it all. An amazing reaction given the situation he was put in.
He was great! Keeping his composure the way he did, magnifies the absurdity of the situation.
Load More Replies...After 16 years of being in retail, all colors, genders and ages steal.
This is true, but young black males are profiled. There is absolutely no doubt about that.
Load More Replies...I am white and I am old. I have seen a lot of inappropriate behavior. I support his plan to sue and file. Don't most garments, including coats, have metal bits attached that set off an alarm when one tries to leave the store? Either wait until the child walks through the alarm or check the place on the coat where the metal thing is attached. And if it isn't there and there is no hole making it obvious the metal was torn out, then offer a major apology and a gift card. I've always understood that a person cannot be charged with shoplifting until leaving the store. Is that no longer true? Sorry this happened to you, young man.
As well, he was NOT OBSERVED taking the jacket, as he obviously didn't. That makes it a racially motivated hate crime.
Load More Replies...I bet every one of those employees believe they aren't racist. That's how insidious racism is. They probably aren't even aware that their behavior was racist. We must be willing to examine ourselves and look deeper- and be willing to look at uncomfortable truths.
Julia comment has so much truth to it. Racism goes both ways. My white friends have been accused of being racist, which they aren’t, not even remotely close. One of my girlfriends (blonde blue eyes southern bell) came crying to me after a client accused her of mistreating her for the color of her skin. This client embarrassed her boyfriend when she started ranting in front of other customers because it wasn’t true. No one is amune to racial profiling. I’ll catch myself profiling Muslims yet I haven’t meet one single Muslim I haven’t liked and that fits the description or profile that the news and media try to portray as terrible people. I’m brainwashed to have my guard up but have never had any life experience to give me any reason to. I think we all should try to be more self aware in this matter.
Load More Replies...They even looked guilty. What a crock of s**t. Glad they were fired, hope he gets paid a ton of money.
I di as well, i also hope others learn from this
Load More Replies...This type of thing should never happen. It's 2018 for crying out loud. I don't understand why or society continues to hold onto racism. We are the human race. The color of our skin is irrelevant.
It is relevant. We are not the same; we all have our unique culture. I, for one, as a Black person, have no desire to be lumped in with everyone else, thank you. But, we are all deserving of equal respect.
Load More Replies...Actually our son was accused of stealing a belt in a store when he was 16 years old. He had on shorts and a tank top, basketball Knicks clothing. When the mall cop made him pull up his top, of course no belt was on him. Then they saw his wallet, which was a gift from me for his birthday, and bought at the same store. They said he had lifted that it. I was called to the store, and they wanted me to sign a confession for him to make it all go away. I had the receipt still at home, so I drove 15 miles to home and back. The manager took his sweet time looking at the receipt, then said, OK, you can go. No apology, nothing. I was furious. Store was Steinbach's, now out of business. GOOD! By the way, we are just average white folks. Stores had better be sure before they accuse people, no matter what the age or color.
the sad truth of this is, if he didnt record this whole thing i bet old navy wouldn't have believed him and this would just be one more injustice in the world.
In the store I worked at (not an Old Navy) we had to see the customer take something from the shelves and then walk out of the store before accusing him of stealing. This is unacceptable. Glad he got their faces and glad they all got fired.
Exactly, there is so much wrong with the whole event here, it is undeniably racist profiling. The systemic level of it concerning. I seriously doubt that the company would have reacted so appropriately if there had been no proof.
Load More Replies...If you are as such big company as for example old navy, its hard to control and keep the level of professionalism same around the world. But what i do like is how they reacted afterwards. And as a reply to Hans, why to bother with police, when you can make it viral :)))))
I find your comment absurd it don't matter how big a corporation there is no excuse for not having proper customer ethics
Load More Replies...So glad he recorded this nonsense and got the names as faces of those people. They're pathetic and he truly kept his cool through it all. An amazing reaction given the situation he was put in.
He was great! Keeping his composure the way he did, magnifies the absurdity of the situation.
Load More Replies...After 16 years of being in retail, all colors, genders and ages steal.
This is true, but young black males are profiled. There is absolutely no doubt about that.
Load More Replies...I am white and I am old. I have seen a lot of inappropriate behavior. I support his plan to sue and file. Don't most garments, including coats, have metal bits attached that set off an alarm when one tries to leave the store? Either wait until the child walks through the alarm or check the place on the coat where the metal thing is attached. And if it isn't there and there is no hole making it obvious the metal was torn out, then offer a major apology and a gift card. I've always understood that a person cannot be charged with shoplifting until leaving the store. Is that no longer true? Sorry this happened to you, young man.
As well, he was NOT OBSERVED taking the jacket, as he obviously didn't. That makes it a racially motivated hate crime.
Load More Replies...I bet every one of those employees believe they aren't racist. That's how insidious racism is. They probably aren't even aware that their behavior was racist. We must be willing to examine ourselves and look deeper- and be willing to look at uncomfortable truths.
Julia comment has so much truth to it. Racism goes both ways. My white friends have been accused of being racist, which they aren’t, not even remotely close. One of my girlfriends (blonde blue eyes southern bell) came crying to me after a client accused her of mistreating her for the color of her skin. This client embarrassed her boyfriend when she started ranting in front of other customers because it wasn’t true. No one is amune to racial profiling. I’ll catch myself profiling Muslims yet I haven’t meet one single Muslim I haven’t liked and that fits the description or profile that the news and media try to portray as terrible people. I’m brainwashed to have my guard up but have never had any life experience to give me any reason to. I think we all should try to be more self aware in this matter.
Load More Replies...They even looked guilty. What a crock of s**t. Glad they were fired, hope he gets paid a ton of money.
I di as well, i also hope others learn from this
Load More Replies...This type of thing should never happen. It's 2018 for crying out loud. I don't understand why or society continues to hold onto racism. We are the human race. The color of our skin is irrelevant.
It is relevant. We are not the same; we all have our unique culture. I, for one, as a Black person, have no desire to be lumped in with everyone else, thank you. But, we are all deserving of equal respect.
Load More Replies...Actually our son was accused of stealing a belt in a store when he was 16 years old. He had on shorts and a tank top, basketball Knicks clothing. When the mall cop made him pull up his top, of course no belt was on him. Then they saw his wallet, which was a gift from me for his birthday, and bought at the same store. They said he had lifted that it. I was called to the store, and they wanted me to sign a confession for him to make it all go away. I had the receipt still at home, so I drove 15 miles to home and back. The manager took his sweet time looking at the receipt, then said, OK, you can go. No apology, nothing. I was furious. Store was Steinbach's, now out of business. GOOD! By the way, we are just average white folks. Stores had better be sure before they accuse people, no matter what the age or color.
the sad truth of this is, if he didnt record this whole thing i bet old navy wouldn't have believed him and this would just be one more injustice in the world.
In the store I worked at (not an Old Navy) we had to see the customer take something from the shelves and then walk out of the store before accusing him of stealing. This is unacceptable. Glad he got their faces and glad they all got fired.
Exactly, there is so much wrong with the whole event here, it is undeniably racist profiling. The systemic level of it concerning. I seriously doubt that the company would have reacted so appropriately if there had been no proof.
Load More Replies...If you are as such big company as for example old navy, its hard to control and keep the level of professionalism same around the world. But what i do like is how they reacted afterwards. And as a reply to Hans, why to bother with police, when you can make it viral :)))))
I find your comment absurd it don't matter how big a corporation there is no excuse for not having proper customer ethics
Load More Replies...










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