Nordstrom Rack Falsely Accuses 3 Black Teens Of Stealing From Store, Issues Apology

Luxury retailer Nordstrom Rack on Tuesday issued an apology to the families of three black teenage boys in Missouri after it falsely accused them of shoplifting from a store.

Mekhi Lee, Dirone Taylor and Eric Rogers II went looking for prom clothes at a Nordstrom Rack on Thursday when they said they felt store employees were watching and following them as they shopped.

"I was nervous the whole time," Lee told KMOV, a CBS affiliate in St. Louis. "Every time we move, they move. When we looked up, they looked up."

The teens then left the shop and were met in the parking lot by police, who explained that Nordstrom had accused the boys of stealing. Police investigated the scene and let the teens go without charges after they presented a store receipt.

"The police were actually good," said Rogers, a high school senior. "They understood where we were coming from and they showed us that they were just doing their job." Lee added that authorities also read the police report to the teens explaining why officers had stopped them.

Lee said he called his mother and told her what transpired, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He said his mother suggested that he talk to the store manager about the accusation. However, the teen said the manager ignored them.

Meanwhile, Nordstrom Rack confirmed to CBS News that the president of Nordstrom Rack, Geevy Thomas, contacted the families of the teens and was scheduled to fly to St. Louis to personally apologize to them.

"We didn’t handle this situation well, and we apologized to these young men and their families," Nordstrom Rack said in a statement. "We’re enhancing our internal practices and trainings to help ensure this doesn’t happen again. We want all customers to feel welcome when they shop with us, and we don’t tolerate discrimination of any kind."

Adolphus Pruitt, the president of the St. Louis chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said he spoke to Lee, Taylor and Rogers and their families about the accusation. He said the teens just wanted to make sure others don't receive similar treatment.

"The experience these young men went through is not an isolated incident for African-American males in St. Louis or this country," Pruitt said. "Finding a way to prevent incidents like this from happening in the future has to be the mission of all of us ... these things do not need to happen."

The Nordstrom incident comes on the heels of the arrest in April of two black men at a Starbucks in Philadelphia, which sparked protests of coffee chain for discrimination. Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson reached a symbolic $1 settlement with Starbucks on Wednesday and the company pledged a $200,000 grant to help young Philadelphia entrepreneurs.