A survey based on 251 employees of Spanish fast-fashion brand Zara in New York by The Center for Popular Democracy claims shocking findings. Employees said that Zara is disproportionately identifying black customers as potential thieves. The report claims that “suspicious customers or potential thieves” were labelled “special order.” However Zara spokesperson said on the report, “Zara USA vehemently refutes the findings of the Center for Popular Democracy report, which was published without any attempt to contact the company. The baseless report was prepared with ulterior motives and not because of any actual discrimination or mistreatment.” 57 per cent of those answer the question said that the vast majority, 46 per cent, claimed black customers were called special orders “always” or “often”. For Latino customers the number was 14 per cent and 7 per cent for whites.
The spokesperson also said, “The expression ‘special order’ is a term used to designate a common situation in which associates are requested to enforce customer service and zone coverage on the floor. It does not designate a person or group of people of any category.”
