Victoria's Secret fires employee after woman says she was kicked out of AL store because of her race

Published: Dec. 8, 2016 at 10:37 PM CST|Updated: Dec. 9, 2016 at 2:46 AM CST
Email This Link
Share on Pinterest
Share on LinkedIn
Kimberly Houzah. Source: WBRC video
Kimberly Houzah. Source: WBRC video
Source: Kimberly Houzah via Facebook
Source: Kimberly Houzah via Facebook

OXFORD, AL (WBRC) - A woman who says she was kicked out of a Victoria's Secret store because of her race recorded a Facebook Live video that is gaining momentum online.

Kimberly Houzah, who posted the now viral video, says this isn't the 1950s and she wants to know why she and another woman were singled out.

On Wednesday, Houzah was trying to find a few things on sale at the Victoria's Secret inside Oxford's Quintard Mall when she said the manager told her and another African American woman to leave the store.

It happened after another African American woman she didn't know was accused of shoplifting, according to Houzah.

Houzah, a traveling nurse, made a Facebook Live video that has gone viral.

She feels the store manager discriminated against her because she's African American. She says no one else was told to leave the store.

"She still can't tell me why. I told her I can buy anything in this d*** store I want to, but because another black female gets caught stealing, me and the other black female here, we have to be affiliated. So we're all put out," Houzah said.

On Thursday, Houzah and a group of peaceful protestors stood outside the Victoria's Secret to get an apology. They are also calling for the manager's job.

"You have to be conscious of how you speak to people, how you treat people and you can't just do certain things and get away with it and think that people are going to continue to turn the other cheek," Houzah said.

The local NAACP wants Victoria's Secret to take swift action.

"I'm hoping that they can correct it because I don't think this represents them. But the main thing that we want, we want her terminated," Glen Ray with the Calhoun County NAACP said.

The manager on duty did apologize to Houzah and said the other manager is no longer on the schedule to work.

The mall referenced questions to Victoria's Secret's corporate office, which issued a statement on their Facebook page. They say the employee involved in this situation is no longer employed with the company.

Read the full statement below:

"We take the experience of our customer at the Quintard Mall very seriously and have reached out to her directly to express our sincere apology. What happened at our store should not have happened and does not represent who we are or what we stand for. The store associate involved in this matter is no longer employed with the company. Victoria's Secret is adamant that all customers regardless of race be treated with dignity and respect at all times."

Copyright 2016 WBRC. All rights reserved.