Pregnant woman accused of shoplifting because of baby bump
A manager at an office supply store in North Carolina has been fired after a pregnant woman shopping there was confronted about what she was concealing beneath her shirt.
Sherell Bates was paying for back-to-school supplies at the Staples store on Friday when a police officer had her step aside and explain what was under her shirt.
“Initially, I thought he was joking, so my response was: ‘twins’,” she told WSOC.
Ms Bates says she responded that she’s 34 weeks pregnant with a boy and a girl, but he didn’t believe her.
So she lifted up her shirt to expose her belly.
“No mum should have to go through that,” Ms Bates said.
Staples subsequently said in a statement on Monday that the manager of the Pineville store “did not follow correct protocol” and was fired.
“Yesterday at our Pineville location, 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 issue was resolved, the manager apologised to the customer and refunded their transaction due to the inconvenience.
“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 organisation, we would like to apologise to the customer if that was not the case in this instance.”
