A woman in Pennsylvania says she is planning to take legal action against Target. She claimed in a TikTok post on Thursday that she was wrongly accused of not paying for the items in her cart and was stopped from leaving one of its stores. Although she insisted she had paid for everything and even offered to show her receipt, it wasn’t enough to immediately clear things up.
Now reaching more than 900,000 views on TikTok, the footage sparked plenty of outrage online, mainly because of how the situation was handled.
The incident recently happened at a Target store in Cheltenham. In the video, the woman stood near the exit with her shopping cart, arguing with a security officer and another staff member. She told them they could search her cart and look through her receipt but would find that she had paid for everything.
The officer responded that they would need to take the cart back inside to inspect the items. However, the woman refused to hand it over. She said they could check everything right where they were.
The officer did not agree and went to grab the cart to start wheeling it back inside the store. At that moment, the woman looked stunned by what was happening. She asked whether they were seriously taking her belongings back into the store and immediately told her companion, who was filming, to record everything in case she needed the footage as evidence if she sued Target.
The officer replied that she was under investigation and started taking the cart inside. Still protesting, the woman followed them.
As they passed a checkout area, the woman stopped and asked an employee to confirm that they had just rung up her cart. It is unclear from the video what, if anything, the employee said in response.
The woman then continued after the officer before disappearing around a corner.
Netizens Accuse Target of Racial Discrimination
In the comments, many viewers questioned why the woman’s receipt was not simply checked when she offered to show it. Others went further, accusing those involved of racially profiling her.
“Cops on a power trip can’t even take a second to look at the receipt,” one person wrote. Another asked, “I don’t understand what the problem is. Why didn’t he just check her receipt? This is racism and discrimination she should sue.”
“Girl this is so racist of them… you have a receipt and ready to show them yet they accusing you of stealing [sic],” a third commented. Someone else added, “They never confront their own when they’re stealing. Not saying she is.”
Others believed the woman should follow through with legal action. “She’s going to get paid it’s so wrong,” one viewer predicted. Another suggested, “Sue for humiliation, say your [sic] terrified and embarrassed to go into any retail store now.”
A few also urged her to take her business elsewhere. “I would’ve returned every [expletive] thing and called a [sic] attorney immediately after,” one netizen remarked. Another comment read, “Get all of your money back and go to Walmart.”
The situation appears to have ended with the woman being cleared of the theft accusation. In a later update posted on Facebook, she shared footage showing the staff member apologizing to her for the mistake.
However, the apology doesn’t appear to have put the matter to rest, as the woman still intends to pursue legal action over how she was treated. “I am 100% taking legal action due to the fact I was illegally detained and was proven to not have stolen a single item,” she wrote, adding, “TARGET IS NOT THE PLACE TO BE.”
For now, it remains to be seen whether the woman’s threat of legal action against Target will go any further.
