Posted on 06/06/2012 9:50:08 AM PDT by Altariel
An Arizona doctor says he’s going to sue Barnes & Noble unless he gets an apology from an employee who tossed him from the store because he was alone in the children's section.
Dr. Omar Amin, 73, of Scottsdale, said he was browsing for books for his five- and seven-year-old grandkids at the store on May 4 when he walked into the children’s reading area to quietly answer a cellphone call.
Amin, a renowned researcher of infectious diseases, told local station KTVK that he sat on the ground to avoid bothering other shoppers with his chatter.
“This man approached me and asked if I was in the store by myself,” he told Fox News.
“He said ‘You cannot stay. This is not an area where men are allowed to be by themselves.’”
The employee told Amin that a female customer complained that he made her uncomfortable, Amin said.
The employee then told Amin to leave and “escorted me out as a potential sex offender,” he told the KTVK.
“I was upset like hell because I’ve been so insulted and humiliated in public for the charge of being a man,” he said.
Mark Bottini, the big box bookseller’s vice president and director of stores, apologized for the flap in a statement.
“It is not our policy to ask customers to leave any section of our stores without justification,” the statement said, according to KTVK. “We value Dr. Amin as a customer and look forward to welcoming him in any of our stores.”
The distinguished doc said the statement didn’t go far enough.
“I do not intend to let this slide by," Amin told FoxNews.com. "I want the person who insulted me in the store to apologize to me in public, in the store, and on camera. If I do not get that, I am going to court,” he told Fox News.
He also said he wants the company to prove it reprimanded the employee who confronted him.
“I did not break any rules,” he said.
You ask her exactly why she’s uncomfortable. If it’s simply because he’s there talking on his phone, then you do nothing.
I am sorry but unless the guy was in a female only dressing room area, we had better put a stop to this idea there are places in stores where men can’t be by themselves, real fast.
This is bullsh1t. And places that do it ought to be sued. To the extent nobody else dares to.
“Its obvious that you’d roll over if this happened to you: I’m glad the Doctor is taking it more seriously.”
####
And its “obvious” that you are fond of threatening lawsuits.
And what would people say if the store kicked out an older woman by herself because a man told an employee that she made him feel uncomfortable?
They’d say “Why didn’t you just leave?” Double standard.
We are not going to be treated like criminals for being by ourselves or because a WOMAN (pure and innocent and never wrong in any of her observations) is uncomfortable.
Heavens if this is the new standard then they are going to be escorting men, other women and children out of stores for doing nothing because some woman is uncomfortable about them.
If a guy’s uncomfortable, too freaking bad. They’d probably escort him out for complaining about the creepy woman in the first place and being so rude to point out she’s creepy.
Perhaps she said something else.
Here’s a clue. What do you think pervs are up to when the get on the floor in the kiddie section of the store?
No. If this quasi-legal policy crap is allowed to stand, off-limits places for men just because they are men in common, open areas of stores will become commonplace. Given how they bend over for perverts he’d probably have gotten better treatment from the store and have more legal rights if he was a pre-op transexual.
It would send me into a fury if this happened to my father or husband. Men shop for children’s books as well and with all the news we read today, a woman seems just as likely to be perverted as a man. We just don’t tend to view it in the same way.
We’ve started treated men in this country very badly. So if he isn’t gawking and trying to communicate with the children of strangers, leave him alone!
Exactly how did this store justify their actions?
This is as good an argument as I can think of for shopping on-line.
They could have just talked to the guy and asked what was up. When he would have told them what he was doing, they could simply have said fine and told the female there was nothing sinister going on and to have a good day shopping.
INstead of coming at him premeditated as a sex pervert.
That’s how. When people assume stuff that’s where you get into trouble. Not “You can’t be here by yourself because you’re a man”.
You think they handled it properly? What law was the guy breaking? Apparently “being a man” in certain areas of stores open to all customers, is breaking laws and requires immediate physical removal.
This is the world we live in, it shouldn’t be but it is, men alone “with children” are assumed to be a threat, been that way for a long time. And with a high profile child disappearance that has the divorced dad as the most popular suspect just 100 miles down the road from this B&N he really shouldn’t be surprised.
During my shopping at Walmart today, I walked through the outside of the children’s clothing section to get to the register to pay for my purchases. Guess I’m lucky nobody found me “suspicious” and asked me to leave.
Here’s a clue: 99% of the people on the floor in the kiddie section are NOT pervs. They’re shopping. It happens, that’s what he store is for after all.
INstead of coming at him premeditated as a sex pervert.
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I disagree. I think that they came at Omar Amin premeditated as a Middle Eastern terrorist.
Just a thought.
Maybe the employee was new, or a young kid. Maybe his boss has a policy, maybe they have had this problem before. Could be lots of reasons this happened the way it did. Perhaps the employee and the doctor overreactd, perhaps the doctor shouldn’t have been sitting on the floor, perhaps he is a pervert. I would think that a doctor would have the wits about him to at least talk to management about it.
One good thing about FR, freepers never assume stuff.
Glad you’re not my judge, apparently you’ve already made up your mind on this guy.
Apparently you also don’t mind stores having policies that do not allow men in certain open areas of the store that are open to all customers.
The guy said he was looking for books for his grandkids. He’s also a doctor. Why are you so ready to not believe his explanation? Just because one woman is uncomfortable? Do you know how many women who are out shopping are uncomfortable about the people around them? Are we to remove all the people from women that make them uncomfortable? When did we give women this legal power? When did women become infallible? Could it be perhaps there may be some women who are, for whatever reason, women who just don’t like men, or even if they don’t, still don’t think it looks right for a guy to be in a kid’s section by himself, looking for books on his own for his grandkids?
Would you be as hypersensitive if an old woman by herself did the same thing? There are lots of old lesbians out there, are we to start eyeing adults that are by themselves differently if they go into areas some of us think they shouldn’t be in?
And how about the store guy either lying that they have a policy that says men by themselves can’t be there (but apparently women can) - sexist - or the store actually does have such a policy and the manager is lying that they never did. Are you in favor of that? Who gets to make them judge and jury of all male customers who aren’t with kids? There are moms and dads that abuse their own kids and they wouldn’t be treated the way this guy was.
But you’re okay with stores being able to label guys by themselves as sex criminals and throw them out of stores for doing shopping in sections they for some reason no longer can be in by themselves. Nice. 21st century America is so freaking awesome.
A few years ago, as I was settling into the window seat of an AA flight, a young mother and her very young daughter sat next to me. The little girl was maybe 2-3 yrs old and was sitting between us. For some unknown reason, the little girl decided she really, really liked me. She immediately locked her eyes on me and started putting her little hand on my arm. The mom kept apologizing, but I assured her, there wasn't a problem. The truth is, I grew up wanting a little sister, and when I got older, wanting a daughter, but had a (wonderful) son. I would have adopted this little girl right there and then, no questions asked.
Throughout the entire flight, mom would tell her to leave me alone, but it wouldn't be long before she would stand up in her seat and snuggle up next to me. I assured mom she wasn't bothering me in the least. The truly unfortunate part of this whole story is, I was painfully aware that I was a suspect. I could tell the mother was a nervous wreck because she wanted to be protective of her daughter without offending me or changing seats without good reason. Outwardly I was being polite and smiling at the little girl, but I would have really enjoyed engaging this adorable little angel to pass the time...but my motives would been been immediately suspect. It was important to me that mom knew her daughter was sitting next to a protector rather than a predator.
Sad.
Using his cell phone camera?
The woman has been conditioned to “see something, say something”.
The proliferation of pervs and child pornography caused this.
I mean, single guys can have newphews and nieces to shop for. The person he’s dating may have kids. Geez. Everything a guy does has to be justified through everyone else. Women have no such scrutiny and I am telling you they are just as capable as sex crimes as guys. There’s a reason why lots of female gym coaches and teachers are going to jail and being fired and it isn’t for stealing office supplies.
The fact a guy has to justify his normal actions and a woman doesn’t tells you we’re 2nd class citizens, and if you’re a white guy, third class now in this country.
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