Clothing Store Settles Charges It Monitored Black Customers

The Children’s Place clothing store settled charges that it systematically monitored black customers for shoplifting, agreeing to improve employee training and donate $50,000 to charities.

The Children’s Place, which continues to deny the allegations, also agreed Thursday to spend up to $100,000 to have consultants examine its hiring and training practices.

The agreement capped a 20-month investigation of the company’s Massachusetts stores by the state attorney general’s office and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

Black “testers” sent into the stores said they were trailed by employees and unfairly scrutinized when making credit purchases. The state also alleged managers discriminated against black job applicants and used racially derogatory language.

The Children’s Place, which owns 17 stores in Massachusetts and 365 stores nationwide, said it had a “long-standing policy” against discrimination.

“We vigorously deny the allegations in the commonwealth’s complaint,” the company said in a statement.

The investigation against the Secaucus, N.J.-based chain began when three employees told state officials about the alleged discrimination.

“I would be asked to shadow black people. They would ask me, ‘Those two people at the back of the store, can you please go watch them?’ ” said one of the employees, Amanda Berube.

Berube, who is white, said she was also told not to ask black customers if they wanted to apply for store credit or give shopping bags to black customers because they would use them to steal. Berube said black customers wearing “baggy pants and baggy clothes” came under the most scrutiny.

“I couldn’t tolerate it,” she said.