Bath & Body Works Direct review: Discrimination

I have a son who has High Functioning Autism and ADHD and has difficulty understanding social cues/ verbal boundaries at times. He is very kind and friendly, but can oftentimes, if you don’t know him, come across as being “overly friendly “-verbally, not physically as he has an aversion towards physical touch.

About a year ago, he was reported by a staff member of Bath and Body in Mansfield, Ohio for making her feel “ uncomfortable” due to his over friendliness, and was ultimately banned from the mall for a year due to her complaint. I attempted to speak to the head of security but it was obvious he has an attitude of thinking his ‘power’ is commensurate to that of a chief of police or city mayor. A week ago, right before a major surgery, I had brought my son with me to pick up an online order and I wanted my son to smell a spray I wanted to get for him. It took a lot of begging for him to even step inside the store to smell it and then he walked directly out. I was with him the entire time, along with two other hospital employees who can vouch that my son did not say a word to anyone while he was in the store. The store employee, who I assume was the same person who had filed the complaint the previous year on him, called the police immediately that afternoon and told them that my son had been in the store periodically throughout the year asking other employees if she was working on specific days, and that she was frightened to even come to work. First of all, my son does not drive and is too terrified to even step a foot back in that store, or even the mall, since the first complaint made the previous year, so there is absolutely no question she was bold faced lying. Not to mention he doesn’t even know her name or who she is. She claimed that he had sent friend requests to her on Facebook, but he had no idea it was the same person. He thought the person he was reaching out to was someone he had went to school with. Secondly, I find it extremely suspicious, if he was actually doing what she claimed and that she was in fear of even coming to work, why she would have waited until he was in there with me last week to even report it. He is now banned from the mall for another year. I have no reason to believe that these lies she has reported were anything more than a direct result of her prejudice against those who are different as it is blatantly obvious to anyone who speaks to him for even 1 minute that he is completely harmless and just trying to be friendly. I have spent hundreds of dollars in that store just in the past year but I refuse to support an organization that will allow their employees to lie about certain patrons simply because they have no tolerance or compassion toward those with cognitive/social disabilities. The actions have caused my son to feel that he is not worthy of acceptance and have left him questioning his self worth. This company needs to be ashamed that they allow this kind of discrimination and hate to happen within their organization.