Walgreens review: Employee

I would like to file an official complaint against store# 13717 and more specifically an employee named Jessica who identified herself as the store manager.

Today, February 24, 2021, at approximately 1:15 pm, I was in the Port Monmouth Walgreens Store# 13717 which I frequent quite often due to it's proximity of less than half a mile to my home. While browsing in the makeup section I stopped to view the various types of brushes before making a selection. I then proceeded to the pet aisle as I recently became a fur mom and wanted to pick up treats for my puppy.

After making my choices I proceeded toward the checkout line. During this time I was also on the phone as I received a work related text message from my assistant that required an immediate response, so I stopped in the middle of the aisle to reply via text. When I approached the register, a gentleman stood before me checking out. While waiting I peeked my head around the electronics aisle to take a look at the Bluetooth speakers - none interested me, so I went back to my place in line.

While I was punching in my phone number of my Walgreens rewards card, my head was down when I heard the cashier who was ringing me up say "she was stealing". I looked up after paying and placing my wallet back in my purse. The "store manager" Jessica stood in front of me with stickers on her hand. I assumed that she was offering a coupon for one of the items I purchased. That thought was immediately obliterated as Jessica proceeded to tell me that she saw me on camera switching price tags and stealing. She then went on to tell me that she wanted to look in my purse. I became extremely upset as there was a line of people behind me and I was being accused of theft. I asked Jessica to see the camera and she refused. I then asked her to call the police since I'm not a thief and I would never steal. Again, she refused and sarcastically told me to "have a nice day". As I gathered my belongings, I asked the cashier and Jessica repeatedly for another manager, regional or corporate contact and the only information she provided was a survey on the bottom of my receipt. This experience was not only embarrassing it was quite traumatizing as I have never been accused of stealing. Jessica was extremely unprofessional, quite arrogant in her approach and her accusations were completely false.

In this climate of minority individuals being threatened, injured and even killed over misunderstandings and misinformation; I find it incredibly reckless and irresponsible of this employee to accuse me of stealing without any proof. The mere fact that the police were never called, I was not given an opportunity to view the evidence of said theft and I was allowed to leave the store of my own free will, leads me to believe that this was an incident of racial profiling.

I am a banking executive with over 20 years in the industry. I am bonded and entrusted with large sums of money on a daily basis. I am a homeowner, parent and respected member of society. Why would I risk my livelihood for BEEF JERKY?!?! Jessica stated that I switched tags for beef jerky.

I am extremely offended, traumatized and truly hurt that in a store full of customers, I would be accused of a crime with no proof and subjected to rude, unprofessional behavior for unsubstantiated claims.

I will never set foot in this store again, as there is a Rite Aid in the same proximity. I returned to the store within minutes to return everything that I had purchased since I refuse to spend my hard-earned money in a place that would embarrass me and falsely accuse me of theft.

I believe that sensitivity training, as well as loss prevention training should be mandatory and immediate. I would hate for a family member or friend of mine to be subjected to racial profiling and end up being treated the way I was.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, I look forward to a reply from you