.6A
NATIONAL / The Charlotte Post
Thursday, December 11,1997
Black customer sues Kmart
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ERIE, Pa. - A black woman who
tried to return a coat at Kmart
said the store manager made
monkey noises at her and refused
t to give her a refund.
Cheryl Pire, 37, of Harborcreek
Tbwnship in suburban Erie, filed
a lawsuit last month in federal
court against Kmart Corp. and
Kenneth Barnes, who manages
the store in Summit Tbwnship.
She is seeking unspecified dam
ages.
“I have never in my life felt the
way that I felt that day,” Pire
said. “I felt like I was denied a
refimd because of the color of my
skin. He mocked me, he pulled
his ears out and made some kind
of a monkey noise. I felt like I was
discriminated against.”
Barnes, who is white, denied
Pire’s allegations.
“It’s totally not true. It’s totally
beyond comprehension. It’s
absolutely, 100 percent false,”
said Barnes, 47, who has been
with Kmart for 26 years, includ
ing 10 as a manager.
Mary Lorencz, a spokeswoman
for Kmart headquarters in Troy,
Mich., said the discount retailer
has not investigated Pire’s com
plaint.
“I can’t imagine anyone would
do that,” she said. “We certainly
have no policies that would be put
into effect based on a person’s
race. Our refund pobcy is the
same regardless of who’s return
ing the merchandise.”
Pire’s lawyer, Paul Susko, said
his cbent’s husband, who is white,
witnessed the alleged incident.
“The manager didn’t know they
were connected,” Susko said.
Several customers also wit
nessed the incident, the lawsuit
said.
The lawsuit claims Pire and her
husband went to the store Nov.
24,1995, to return their son’s coat
because its snaps had fallen off.
She said she did not have a
receipt for the coat and did not
have a driver's license. She
offered her miUtaiy identification
card, but it was refused.
“No receipt, no driver’s license,
no refund,” the suit claims Barnes
told Pire.
Barnes then allegedly told Pire,
“You get nothing,” before making
the monkey noises.
The lawsuit said other Kmart
supervisors and managers told
Pire the store honors military
identification cards for refunds of
returned merchandise without a
receipt.
Lorencz said Kmart changed its
return pobcy in August. When
customers retirni merchandise
without a receipt, they are offered
store credit instead of cash, she
said.
CFA promotes African trade
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
TTie Constituency for Africa is
making an urgent appeal to
African American organizations
and leadership to support the
Africa TVade Legislation (H.R.
1432), sponsored by Reps.
Charles ^ngel (D-N.Y.), Phil
Crane (R-Ill.) and Jim
McDermott (D-Wash.).
When Congress went into
recess in late November the
Africa trade bill was tabled with
out fuU debate. 'The Repubbcan
leadership attempted to trade
passage of the Africa trade bill for
the support of the Congressional
Black Caucus on fast-track legis
lation, say CFA supports.
The group suggests that it is
possible that in an upcoming
election year the bill may never
resurface for a vote, despite the
relatively strong bipartisan sup
port it eqjoys. Melvin Foote,
executive Erector of CFA now
thinks that the primary hope for
passage of a trade bill with Africa
Briefs
now rests with the leadership of
the African American community.
“Despite the fact this bib pro
vides great opportunity especial
ly for African American entrepre
neurs, there was no concerted
pressure for its passage by the
African-American leadership,” he
said. “Frankly speaking, other
ethnic groups in America are
wondering why they should be
concerned about African issues if
African Americans are not show
ing concern.”
Commerce, IBM join forces to
aid small businesses
’The U.S. Department of
Commerce’s Minority Business
Development Agency and IBM
have entered into a new
pubUc/private sector relationship
to promote opportunities and
growth with the smaU business
community through information
technology.
Under the arrangement, IBM
will provide technology-related
services, solutions, product offer
ings and pertinent information to
MBDA’s cbents, which include
nearly 30,000 minority-owned
businesses.
Look for the ‘98 issue of the Black
Guide at a location near you.
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