Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Florida

IKEA SUBORDINATES GONE WILD:

Incident Occurred On: Friday: 04/02/2010

I felt as if I was being discriminated against at an IKEA store in Orlando (millenia mall area location), FL. I spent about 1,300.00 there one morning; accidently left an item that was supposed to be monitored by an employee who left the items alone. As a result, a bed frame I purchased was left behind. I returned to the store with my mother later that night (7:15 pm- est) to attempt to retrieve the item I paid for (over 200.00) and to make another purchase. So, I purchased the other item (totaling 500.00), and brought my dilemma to an employees attention. She immediately solicited the help of another subordinate by the name of �Ms. Faith�; Ms. Faith is the one that I felt discriminated by. She came to my mother and me, and told us that �a black man came 15mins after you left and took it; he put the item in a �Black: Ford X250�; maybe your husband. So, my mother and I simultaneously looked at each other with perplexed facial expressions; both feeling as if we were being spoken to in both a discriminatory and condensing manner. I immediately (in a calm tone; where 3 other IKEA subordinates witnessed) begin to engage in further dialogue with Ms. Faith because I was very adamant about retrieving my item.

Me: Ms. Faith �ugh, Ms. Faith what time did I come and leave?�

Her: I don�t know

Me: Ms. Faith, so how do you know when I left?

Her: I don�t know.

Me: Did you even conduct any type of investigation measures to assist me; I checked all my items at

Home; the boxes are so big, and I had the help of an employee by the name of Ms. M, and also the

Lady behind you in the pink shirt- I told you that Ms. Faith. They agreed to monitor the items, as I

As I came back and forth from loading my items onto my truck (a gray: F150).

Me: Are you sure Ms. Faith

Her: Well that�s all the information I have for you; the young lady told me that a tall black man came

15mins after you and took it. He took your bed. (Keep in mind there are now: 2 male employees

watching this and shaking their heads quickly; 1 white and 1 black, also 2 females doing the same thing as their male co-workers: 1 white 1 Latina)

Me: Ms. Faith, I can�t believe that although I spend a lot of money here today, came back and spent

more, and didn�t rely on myself- instead soliciting the assistance of IKEA employees to help me:

you�re telling me tuff luck and some black guy took it.

Her: Yes, that�s what I�m telling you: that�s all the information I have.

Me: This is unacceptable; I want to speak to someone else regarding this. Also Ms. Faith, I don�t know

Any black men personally enough that would be shopping with me other than my father (he�s dead), and

My younger brother (he lives in NYC). As a matter of fact, my husband�a navy seamen is a pure white man,

drives a f150 reg cab. Good day.

Her: Well you can try, but the decision will be the same. (facial expressions uninviting, rude, etc.)

Me: Ms. Faith, so are you telling me that there isn�t a discovery process? IKEA is not interested in

Providing superior customer service?

]

Her: I�m not saying that, I�m just saying this case is close, but I�ll get someone else for you anyway.

(Ms. Faith solicits the assistance of the �merchandise control� [I�m not sure if that�s the title in fact], which is also the lady in the pink polo shirt that was aforementioned when referencing those 2 individuals that I asked for help. She remembered me, apologized for Ms. Faith, and proceeded to conduct an investigation. She went to the back, whilst me and my mother continued to engage in conversation with the other subordinates about the initial dilemma and current incident, respectively. One particular employee, Mr. Jevon, publically attested that he was sorry that I�m going through this: �you come here all the time, you are so cool (lol), this is a shame.

Ms. Unknown, came back, telling us �I viewed the surveillance camera�s, and it appears that you took all of your stuff, but there was a cart with big boxes still remaining there, but it didn�t appear that it was yours; I will conduct further investigation regarding this matter. I will handle what needs to be handled with Ms. Faith internally; due to legal implications, I can�t discuss what will transpire but I will handle it. Thank you for your continued business.

Me: Thank you at least attempting to care about my situation. I must say, I�m appalled: I never had anyone just straight out lie in my face like that, not to mention throwing around racial assumptions. My mother was very embarrassed� so was I.

Do I have a case?

Thank You,

Nikki Morelli

1 Answer from Attorneys

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