‘Do Not Shop There Anymore!’: Black Texas Woman Says She Was Racial Profiled at CVS Pharmacy. Now the Worker Is Internet Famous
A Texas woman is accusing a CVS employee of racially profiling her after she was accused of shoplifting.
The video, posted by @iammsdajah or Ms. Dajh, on Monday, shows a woman in blue walking away as the person recording (Ms. Dajh) films the situation.
In the video, Ms. Dajh said the employee pretended to be working while she was looking in the makeup section.
“You know you know what I’m doing, why would I ask her when she looks like that?” she told another employee.
The employee, a white woman with bright pink lipstick, continued telling her to “calm down.”
According to her Instagram, Ms. Dajh is a beauty, style, and travel influencer in Houston, Texas.
“All I was doing was looking for my complexion concealer, while being my fabulous self!” Dajh wrote in the caption.
Someone on the phone tells Ms. Dajh to calm down and file a complaint before the video cuts out.
“I am going to file a complaint,” she says.
Many commented on the video online.
“Been in many drug stores and they don’t have people walking around asking if anyone needs help. They barely have people working,” @kaiingalls wrote.
“CVS literally has a policy that employees are not supposed to approach anyone whom they think may be stealing,” @tsheire320 added.
“Do not shop there anymore. Stop telling her to calm down,” @marciajoihoward said.
“They do that at every store to every minority, rich or poor. Nothing new, keep calling it out!!!” @sommer_pvd added.
CVS has faced several accusations and lawsuits related to racially profiling customers.
In 2018, a Chicago CVS store manager claimed a Black woman had a fake coupon and called police, NBC reports.
In 2015, four former employees accused the company of racially profiling Black and Hispanic customers. According to their attorneys, employees were instructed to target minority shoppers for surveillance, often using offensive language.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to Ms. Dajh and CVS for more information, but has not heard back. She has since deleted the video, and her Instagram account cannot no longer be located.