Lawsuit: Shopper forced to pull down pants in public after falsely accusation of shoplifting by Gap

NEW YORK - Nov. 25, 2014 - PRLog -- Attorney Steven Fingerhut, an associate of the law firm Imbesi Christensen, filed a lawsuit against The Gap, Inc.  on behalf of a shopper that alleged he was forced to lower his pants in public by security officers that wrongly accused him of shoplifting.

The complaint, filed on behalf of Rohan Barnswell claims that he was ​labeled a shoplifter because he is black and then humiliated after a​ ​Gap store staffer accused ​​him of stealing and forced ​him ​to pull down his pants​ in the middle of ​the bustling ​Woodbury Common ​outlet mall.
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The complaint alleges that when Mr. Barnswell exited the store he was suddenly surrounded by a swarm of mall cops on Segways and bicycles.  With shoppers looking on, a Gap staffer loudly accused Barnswell of stealing items from the retailer and demanded that he lift up his shirt.

The Gap employee “interrogated Mr. Barnswell in front of numerous customers who stopped to see the commotion,” according to the complaint.  The complaint also alleges that after, “finding no merchandise under his shirt, the Gap employee then ordered plaintiff to remove his trousers also in public and in front of numerous people shopping at Woodbury Common.”

Mr. Barnswell's complaint also alleges that, “after the Gap employee forced him to remove his pants, The Gap employee caused plaintiff significant anxiety by circling around plaintiff to see his backside when his pants were removed.”

The complaint alleges that, “Plaintiff was unlawfully racially targeted, stopped and detained by Defendants’ employees,” and “Defendants and their agents and/or employees focus their surveillance on minority customers to the exclusion of white customers.”

Imbesi Christensen has represented numerous individuals that were victim of racial profiling against many companies, filing both individual and class action lawsuits.