June 17, 2005

Woman Accuses WM Associates of Racial Bias

WM associates in Eagan, Minnesota accused Gayle Bryant of writing a bad check, because they were convinced her starter checks (which were naturally missing several security features of standard checks) were fake. They called the police even though the check cashing system approved her check. She claims racial bias played a role. WM and the police deny that.

Let's take a look at the case:

Store employees had accused the Ramsey County social worker of using a bad check to buy $92.69 worth of bottled water and household goods. They called police, who waited for her to leave the store and then stopped her for questioning.

Ultimately, Wal-Mart agreed her check was good and offered $1,000 for her trouble, blaming the incident on an over-alertness for fraud but admitting that employees hadn't followed policy.

Her evidence:

"It's what you feel. It's an internal gut feeling. Race is the last card I pull," she said. "But I know if I went in there and had been white, this never would have happened."
I hate bigots of all stripes, but I need more than her feeling as evidence, especially given the context:
Although Bryant said she believes she was singled out because of the color of her skin, the Eagan Police Department also is emphatic that race played no factor in the incident.

The only factor was what her checks looked like, police said.

"Wal-Mart called us. We'd respond to any call for service," Johnson said.

Employees were on the lookout for fraud because a customer with fake checks had duped Wal-Mart only the night before. Everyone's guard was up when Bryant came in with her printed starter check, he said.

But the mess-up was "absolutely not" race-related, Wal-Mart's Clark reiterated.

It's impossible for us to really know the motives of the accused employees; the author interviews a professor who notes that implicit racial profiling is rampant, but also notes that a large number of the compaints to the Department of Human Rights are dismissed or dropped.

What is the probability that she was singled out for her race? What is the probability that she wasn't racially profiled but sincerely thinks she was?

Posted by Kevin on June, 17 2005 at 07:31 AM