AVENTURA, Fla. — The Bloomingdale's department store chain has apologized to the teenager reportedly tackled in its Aventura Mall location last February when a now-fired security guard suspected the 13-year-old girl of shoplifting.
"We apologize to [the teen] and her family," a spokesperson in Bloomingdale's national headquarters said in a statement released to the Florida Record. "While Bloomingdale’s does not comment on ongoing litigation, we take these allegations seriously and are working to quickly resolve this situation."
Bloomingdale's apology came about a week after news broke that the girl's family had filed a lawsuit over the incident. The family's Aventura-based attorney, Jacob Joseph Givner of the Givner Law Group, told 7 News Miami that the chain's initial response had been more disturbing.
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"They said that the victim has assumed the risks of being attacked simply by virtue of shopping at Bloomingdale's," Givner said. "It’s an entirely, completely unprovoked account. The victim’s only sin was that she went shopping at Bloomingdale's."
Givner did not respond to a Florida Record request for comment.
Bloomingdale's, owned by Macy's, Inc., was founded by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. Today the Bloomingdale's brand operates 38 stores and 17 outlet locations.
Part of the Feb. 10, 2018 incident was captured on surveillance video included in the 7 News Miami news report, showing a female Bloomingdale’s loss prevention officer, identified as Jamie Stubbs, take down the girl at an escalator outside of the store. The girl's mother witnessed the incident, according to the news report.
"It was very aggressive and violent," the girl's mother was quoted in the news report. "This woman was screaming that [my daughter had] shoplifted. There was a crowd building up around us. There were many, many onlookers. A lot of people were recording this event. It was very humiliating for all of us."
The bathing suits that Stubbs apparently thought the girl had shoplifted were later found in the dressing room where the teenager had left them, according to the news report, which cited a police report.
Stubbs has been fired, according to the news report.