Sherell Bates was 34 weeks pregnant with twins when she went back-to-school shopping at a North Carolina Staples on Friday. She ended up having to expose her belly to a police officer, who thought the bump under her shirt was stolen goods. Bates was trying to pay for notebooks and other school supplies for her two older children at the Staples in Pineville, North Carolina, when she was pulled aside by an officer monitoring the store, reports Stephanie Tinoco of WSOC. The officer asked Bates what was under her shirt. Her response: “Twins.” The officer didn’t believe her, Bates said. So she lifted her shirt to show him her belly, “so he could see that I’m just a regular pregnant person buying school supplies,” she told Tinoco. The episode is one in a long string of recent highly publicized incidents in which black customers at retail stores around the country have been suspected of theft when they were simply trying to shop. For Bates, the experience of shopping while pregnant with twins was stressful enough without being accused of faking her pregnancy to steal school supplies. Discrimination against black shoppers is widespread Staples issued a statement about the incident, saying that, “while a customer was shopping, a manager mistakenly thought they were possibly shoplifting and asked a police officer that happened to be in the store to talk with the customer.” “After a quick conversation,” the statement continued, “the issue was resolved, the manager apologized to the customer and refunded their transaction due to the inconvenience.” A separate statement from Staples to Vox on Monday said that after an investigation into the incident, the manager involved had been fired. “The manager in question did not follow correct protocol and also failed to adhere to our existing policy on how to interact with our customers,” the statement said. Bates says she is considering legal action. Her ordeal is one of several recent incidents in which black customers have been questioned by police — or worse — while merely going about their business. In April, two black men were arrested and removed from a Philadelphia Starbucks where they were waiting for a business associate. In May, a black woman was searched at a San Jose, California, Macy’s when an employee suspected her of stealing cologne. She said a saleswoman told her “people like you have been stealing from Macy’s, stealing stuff.” Also in May, three black teenagers were questioned by police on suspicion of shoplifting at a St. Louis-area Nordstrom Rack, where they were shopping for prom. Researchers have begun to examine the phenomenon of “shopping while black.” A 2009 study, for instance, found that white salespeople were more suspicious of black customers who asked to have a security tag removed from an item — the employees were especially suspicious of black men. “The cumulative effects of retail discrimination can take a heavy psychological toll on Black shoppers, who must always remain hypervigilant when shopping at high-end retail stores,” the study’s authors write. “In addition to the psychological effects, racism-related stress (e.g., retail discrimination) has been found to increase physiological stress, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in Black women.” African Americans have an estimated buying power of $1.2 trillion, Nadra Nittle noted at Racked, and many are deciding to spend their money online rather than in physical stores thanks to the discrimination they face. In a 2015 poll, black Americans were more likely to report unfair treatment at a restaurant or store than in interactions with police. That’s probably because shopping and dining out are such common, inescapable parts of life, management professor Stephanie Creary told Nittle. “People are more likely to come into contact with retailers than with police,” she said. “I haven’t seen police all day, but I’ve been in about four retail establishments.” Racism can affect black women’s health — and the health of their children For Bates, the experience came with the added frustration of being accosted by police while pregnant. “Being pregnant is already high risk,” she said, and being suspected of a crime when she was trying to get her children ready for school was “just additional stress that I don’t need.” Black moms already face discrimination and inequity in health care settings — many report struggling to be taken seriously by providers, Vox’s P.R. Lockhart writes, and black women are three to four times more likely than white women to die from complications of pregnancy. What’s more, the experience of racism can affect their pregnancies and future children — some experts believe the stress of experiencing racism puts black women at elevated risk of delivering prematurely, which in turn increases the risk of infant mortality. For Bates, the emotional impact of having to prove she wasn’t a thief by exposing her pregnant belly to a police officer has been substantial. “After this incident,” Tinoco of WSOC, said, “she was so sick to her stomach, she regrets leaving the house.” Update: This story has been updated with an additional statement from Staples.<doc-sep>A pregnant woman was reportedly questioned by a police officer while shopping at a Staples store in Pineville, North Carolina. The officer had been alerted by a store manager who reportedly suspected that the customer, Sherell Bates, was shoplifting. Bates was at the register when a police officer asked her what was under her blouse. "Initially, I thought he was joking, so my response was: 'Twins,'" she told local ABC affiliate WSOC. Staples has issued a formal apology. A woman pregnant with twins was stopped by a police officer at a Staples store in Pineville, North Carolina, after a store manager reportedly suspected her of hiding stolen goods under her shirt. Sherell Bates said she was at the register when a police officer asked her what was under her blouse, local ABC affiliate WSOC reported. The officer had been alerted by a store manager who believed Bates was shoplifting. "Initially, I thought he was joking, so my response was: 'Twins,'" she told WSOC.<doc-sep>A black woman who is pregnant with twins was horrified when a worker at stationery store Staples mistook her baby bump for stolen goods. Sherell Bates was taken to one side by a cop who arrived at the store while shopping for back to school items in Pineville, NC., Friday. She told WSOC: ‘Mid-transaction, a police officer approached me and insisted he wanted to speak with me. Sherell Bates, who is heavily pregnant with twins, was taken aside by a cop called to the store and asked what was under the top she was wearing (Picture: WSOC) Bates is outraged by the way she was treated, and is now contemplating lega action against Staples (Picture: WSOC) ‘He asked what was under my shirt. ‘Initially, I thought he was joking, so my response was, “Twins.” ‘I’m 34 weeks with twins. I’m having a boy and a girl.’ Shockingly, the guard did not believe what the expectant woman told him, and repeated his question. Bates continued: ‘At that point, to avoid him asking me again, I actually lifted my shirt just a little bit, just to expose my belly, so he could see that I’m just a regular pregnant person buying school supplies.’ She added: She added: ‘Being pregnant is already high-risk, and having to deal with that, just additional stress that I don’t need.’ The incident happened Friday at this Staples store in Pineville, NC (Picture: Google Maps) Pineville PD said a store manager called cops and asked them to confront Bates over fears she was ‘concealing merchandise.’ The store refunded the cost of Bates’ goods and offered a half-hearted apology, saying: ‘At Staples, we want all customers to feel welcome in our store, and work with our store associates to try and foster an inclusive culture. ‘As an organization, we would like to apologize to the customer if that was not the case in this instance.’ But the expectant mother is furious, and is contemplating legal action. She added: ‘You pretty much jumped the gun without any type of evidence, except my stomach is large. ‘That’s not fair. No mom should have to go through that.’<doc-sep>
A pregnant woman claims she was embarrassed at a Staples in North Carolina after she was accused of shoplifting. Sherell Bates told WSCO-TV that she was back-to-school shopping at the Staples located in the McMullen Creek Market shopping center in Pineville, North Carolina, on Friday when she was approached by a police officer while she was checking out. "Midtransaction, a police officer approached me and insisted he wanted to speak with me," Bates said. "He asked what was under my shirt." Bates, who is 34 weeks pregnant with twins, told the news station that she thought the officer was joking and told them that she was having a girl and a boy. "At that point, to avoid him asking me again, I actually lifted my shirt just a little bit, just to expose my belly, so he could see that I'm just a regular pregnant person buying school supplies," Bates told the news station. A spokesperson from the Pineville Police Department confirmed to Newsweek that a uniformed, off-duty police officer working at the shopping center on Friday responded to a call from a store manager who claimed that a woman was "concealing merchandise" under her shirt. Bates told the news station she confronted the manager, who allegedly admitted to calling the officer. Bates, who is black, claimed the manager told her that the store has had thefts in the past, with customers hiding merchandise under their clothes. "When I confronted her about what happened, she admitted that, 'In the past, we've had a lot of people putting school supplies or merchandise in their clothes and hiding, so I asked the officer to reach out to you,'" Bates told WSCO-TV. Bates claimed she has never felt more humiliated and regretted leaving her home to go shopping, WSCO-TV reported. She told the news station that she was going to contact the Staples' corporate office and might take legal action against the company for its accusation. "You pretty much jumped the gun without any type of evidence, except my stomach is large," Bates said. "That's not fair. No mom should have to go through that." In a statement emailed to Newsweek, Staples said the company apologized to Bates and said the soon-to-be mother was offered a full refund. The manager has been fired from the company for failing "to adhere to our existing policy on how to interact with our customers." "Staples has since conducted a full investigation into the matter and determined that the manager in question did not follow correct protocol and also failed to adhere to our existing policy on how to interact with our customers. As a result of this finding, the manager has been terminated and Staples has apologized to the customer," the statement read. "At Staples, we want all customers to feel welcome in our stores, and work with our associates to foster an inclusive culture. As an organization, we would like to apologize to the customer as that was not the case in this instance." In May, Nordstrom Rack issued an apology to three black men after they were falsely accused of stealing from the store. Mehki Lee, a freshman at Alabama A&M University, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he and his friends were shopping at a Nordstrom Rack in St. Louis for prom clothes and were accused of theft by an employee who was following them around the store. This story has been updated to include an updated statement from Staples.