You two are married. She saw me shopping, called you claiming I was suspicious, and you showed up already convinced I was a criminal before you even spoke to me. Patricia tried to defend herself. I genuinely thought something was wrong. I mean, she was just browsing and not buying anything.
Browsing and not buying anything? Peter cut her off, his voice rising with anger. That's what shopping is. That's what every customer in this store does. They browse.
They look at items. They take their time deciding what they want. What exactly about that seems suspicious to you? Was it the browsing, or was it the fact that she's black? Patricia had no answer.
Her face showed a mixture of embarrassment, defensiveness, and the dawning realization that she had just destroyed her husband's career. Bennett turned to Jennifer, the sales associate who had sided with Officer Patterson without question. And you, when the officer told you I was disturbing the peace, you immediately agreed without asking me a single question. You told me to leave. You supported him arresting a customer in your store based on absolutely nothing.
Jennifer's voice came out as a whisper. Miss Bennett, I didn't know it was you. If I had known you were the owner. If you had known I was the owner, you would have treated me differently. Bennett interrupted.
But because you thought I was just a black customer, you assumed the racist cop was right and I was wrong. That's exactly the problem, Jennifer. You made a choice based on what you saw, and what you saw was my skin color. Bennett turned to Peter, her voice firm and clear. Jennifer is fired.
Effective immediately. She can collect her belongings and leave. Jennifer started a protest, but Peter held up his hand. Miss Bennett is right. You supported false accusations against a customer based on racial bias.