1 🔻

Be ready to film incidents on mobile phone if/where possible. Having visual and audio footage makes it easier to prove, settle and resolve in your favour. Keep footage safe.

2 🔻

Log details of business, retail store, service, establishment, and whom you spoke to and consider requesting to talk with supervisor and or store manager to make them aware of situation. Note date, time of incident.

3🔻

It’s easy to get frustrated and angry when dealing with security in particular and or front facing staff. Stay calm. If you’re angry and rude, you’ll make it harder to find a favourable resolution before of later if making a formal complaint. Be sure to keep your language appropriate and where possible be polite and stay focused on the results you want.

4 🔻

Be sure, fair and be reasonable, and know your consumer rights. Racial profiling is discriminatory, and racial discrimination is illegal.

Send a direct letter of complaint to offending store or service.

5 🔻

If you feel comfortable sharing, please let us know if you feel you’ve been racially profiled by submitting in brief incident using our form below.

‼️ NOTE: Do NOT be upload photos or footage of incidents unless requested.

6🔻

Spread the word of the our Shopping While Black UK & US campaign, the more people are aware and report the quicker we can stomp out racial profiling and discrimination.

If you can afford to donate a few pound, maybe a one off or per month it would greatly help run the intiative longterm. Thank you!

DONATE

Shopping While Black Campaign

❤️

1

LETTER OF COMPLAINT TO THE RETAILER

Template

Make a complaint

It’s often best to try to resolve your problem informally first by talking to the trader or service provider. This can happen in the store, where you can ask to speak to the store manager and explain what happened to you and how they should address it.

Oftentimes, it's easier to address this later on. You can email a company's HR department or head store manager to make a complaint. It's great if you have details about the incident. You can request surveillance footage of the incident to make your case. If they don't answer, you can make a formal complaint and request that they answer within 14 days.

The Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS) has template letters you can use

2

STORES TRADE ASSOCIATION

Reach out to the store's trade association

If you don't hear back from the store about your complaint, you can put pressure on the company by reaching out to the trade association which sets rules for the company's industry and report the abuse. The trade association will also have specific trade rules around discrimination and how to address it. You can refer to it in your email to them to highlight how the store was in violation of it.

3

COMPLAIN TO THE EQUALITY & HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISION

File an official complaint with the Equality and Human Rights Commission

You might not get an answer from the Commission BUT you will help raise awareness about this store/company, which they might decide to investigate later on.

4

SOCIAL MEDIAS TO SHOUTS!!

Tweet & SHOUT about it!

While companies might not react privately to complaints, they tend to answer to public pressure. Tweet your experience with a date, name, location of the store, and the hashtag #shoppingwhileblackuk and you might hear back from them. Don't forget to tag the store, so they see your tweet. You'll also raise awareness about this behaviour, encouraging others to share their experiences, which ultimately helps society address the issue and stamp it out

Check in again for more resources and updates to address retail discrimination. Contact us if you want to discuss your options further or volunteer with us to eliminate this kind of abuse.

5

MAKE A CLAIM

Legal Action

Consider Legal Action

You can take the company to court, for breach of the Equality Act. You might be able to get an apology or even financial compensation if they're found guilty. Legal proceedings, though, are often time-consuming and onerous.

Speak to a specialised Equal Rights lawyer to discuss your options. They might advise you to reach out to a trade's ombudsman, who can review the case and seek mediation with the company.

Aug 2022 - A Black customer was awarded $4.4 million in damages in racial profiling lawsuit against Walmart

A jury in Oregon, US awarded a Black man $4.4 million in damages after he claimed in a lawsuit that a White Walmart employee racially profiled him while shopping and tried to have law enforcement act on false charges, according to court documents.