Katie Ann McCarver
Recording artist Ray “Bay Blu” Ivory has accused an employee at Bath & Body Works in Summerlin of racial profiling while he was visiting the store says he plans take legal action against the company.
Friday, Sept. 30, 2022 | 5:16 p.m.
Local recording artist Ray “Bay Blu” Ivory is pursuing legal action against Bath & Body Works after one of its employees allegedly profiled him based on his race at a retail location in Summerlin.
Ivory was shopping at the store in Trails Village Center on Tuesday, when the employee forcibly took shopping bags from him that he had filled with candles. When he asked her why, Ivory said she couldn’t give an answer.
“She was supposed to be helping me, but in reality, she ended up hurting me,” the rapper said.
The employee has been let go by Bath & Body Works, and the retailer issued an apology to Ivory, the company said in an emailed statement.
“We want to assure you that this situation does not represent who we are or what we stand for,” the statement reads. “ … We will not waiver from our core value of treating all customers with dignity and respect, and we are committed to ensuring that everyone feels welcome in our stores.”
Though he appreciates Bath & Body Works letting the employee go, Ivory will still take legal action against the retailer on principle, according to his spokesperson for the matter, the Rev. Stretch Sanders.
Sanders, an activist for the Black community, said Ivory’s goal in pursuing legal action is not to embarrass Bath & Body Works, but to ensure that the individual employee is not a reflection of the entire system.
Ultimately, Sanders said, there is a lesson that needs to be learned — those who may not fit into the preexisting mold of any given area should still be accepted and embraced by it.
“And so, just because a statement is made and just because a person is let go, it doesn't change the fact that what happened has happened,” Sanders said. “And it continues to happen to individuals from marginalized communities.”
One way to combat that is to have trainings on racial equity and diversity in place, he said.
When a company has any representative that treats someone the way the former Bath & Body Works employee treated Ivory, Sanders said, there needs to be accountability. That applies beyond Bath & Body Works, he added, to the retail industry as a whole.
“I want corporate to get involved, and more importantly, some justice,” Ivory said. “That ain’t fair, no matter how I look.”
