I was the prettiest girl in the world until...

[SherylynJade]

I've now sent my concerns to them, on facebook and an email.

[JulieC]

Just found this on their web site:

" A commitment to diversity

At Ross, we value and respect diversity. What matters is how a person performs on the job. That’s why we promote the hiring, acceptance, and appreciation of every individual. Our workplace is one in which personal dignity and respect for the individual is expected in all interactions with our associates and our customers." (url)

Seems their store manager didn't read that part.

[Cassandra Lynn]

Christy, i am so sorry this has happened, please keep your head held high. I would also like to wish you the best as this moves forward, from your words i can see that you are a wise and honest person, so i think whatever you decide to do will be the right thing to do.

So very nice to see the community stand up for one of our own and for justice in general.

Hopefully as an outcome from this, the movement for free rights for all will be furthered.

One thing in particular that stands out for me is that something needs to be done to make John and Jane q. Public aware of these rights. I say that because this dreadful happening seems to have been precipitated by a customer in the store that day. Something similar happened to me just a few weeks ago in a Kohls store. I was making my way to a fitting room stall and was being glared at by a woman who was with her daughter, she was waiting for her daughter outside the door. She continued to watch me and as i entered a stall, she rather nastily asked her daughter to "hurry as we need to leave now".
Yes, i was in drab but that shouldn't matter.
Maybe i'm crazy but wouldn't it help if there were signs posted simply stating that these fitting rooms are for all genders, transpersons, or something to that effect?
Signage complete with the significant laws could also be of use to the managers and SAs working in that store to point out to any complaints issued by unaccepting (narrow-minded idiots) customers.
Just my thoughts.
mj (Cassie)

[aggi123]

. There are store videos and customer receipts that are also discoverable and that will show enough about who wa around and what transpired. If they get real brave, they could potentially destroy as much of that as possible. Maybe I will get the courage to call an attorney and see about what my options are.
Christy

There may not be any store video of it. I work Loss Prevention in Maryland at wally world and I recently had to remove all camera shots facing the dressing rooms because it didn't comply with state law. I'm not sure if it's the same in Washington or not, but it may be.

[Tammy V]

You did nothing wrong and there is nothing to feel bad about. But, stories like this make me even more nervous to try something like this myself. I have been shopping en femme once, last month, and plan to go again. However, I may go with my usual method of looking and buying clothes then taking them home to try on. I would rather have to return a few items than be subjected to this kind of abuse.

[Kathryn Martin]

Christy

I think you should get some advice from an attorney. Go to the State Bar Association and find someone specializing in human rights issues. Then buy an hour of their time and get them to tell you what this is all about and what remedies you might have against the company. I am a lawyer in a different part of the world. My advice, get a advice

[Warcraft_Girl]

Why in this day and age do people take MTF dressing as a personal attack? There should be nothing wrong with trying on any clothes what so ever. I wish people would get over their old ways of thinking and just accept people how ever they come.

[Sheila11]

I feel so bad for you. I can't imagine how terrified and humiliated you were. I have been fortunate down here in PDX to have nothing but help from every SA.
Don't give up. There are a lot of people willing to help you out.

[JulieC]

The Yelp page for this store:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/ross-lynnwood

The YellowBot page for this store:
http://www.yellowbot.com/ross-lynnwood-wa.html

CitySearch page for this store:
http://seattle.citysearch.com/profil..._for_less.html

Enjoy.

[rocktheplank]

I dont know if there is anything I can say that hasn't already been said, but I am sorry you went through all that. You shouldn't have to be a spectale of like that, it's just wrong and you should not have been treated like that either, its 2010, get with the times.

You've got a lot of people's support girl, including mine (for what that is worth) Hold your head high!

[Kathryn Martin]

They just got clobbered in public and have released this statement shown by KittyKitty. If we keep on them until they follow through on their promise in a visible way then we have accomplished something major.

[Melanie Bryant]

I am an employment lawyer...what they did violated the law. The links to the Washington State Human Relations Commission and to the Ross Complaint site is all you need.

Hope it went well with the counsellor...hang in there. Then get even and complain.

Melanie

[Maria in heels]

I actually have read all of these posts, and I am appalled at the lack of consideration and respect given by the store manager. I followed the link posted by Julie C and posted this on Yelp...

"I heard from several friends on a posting board that the manager of this store is insensitive, unprofessional, and overall and demerit to the Ross Stores. Several formal complaints have been filed with the corporate office, and this manger needs termination to her closed minded performance, and rude manners. Do not shop in this store, as you will be supporting a bigot from what I have been told. Mrs. Archie Bunker is the manager of this location --- I guess that she is also Meathead at the same time....."

[Danni Bear]

Christy,

I also sent an e-mail to Ross over this, also I took an excerpt of your OP and showed it to a friend who is the store manager at my local Ross store. He immediately sent that excerpt by his corperate e-mail to their human resources dept. manager in their corperate office. A short time ago he called me at home and told me of an e-mail he got back from her. In it he was instructed to post on the office bb the policy statement and to have all personnel to read and sign it. It also stated that further complaints registered with the company would be dealt with severly. he made it clear to me that Ross is determined to make sure that nothing of this nature ever occurs in one of their stores again.

Danni

now we have to wait and see if they mean it or not

[Stephanie Anne]

I just got back a reply as posted by KittyKitty. Good to know we made a dent.

[Tina Marie]

Sorry to hear of the abuse. Did you catch a name. I am from Washington also and shop at Ross through out the state. I have never had a problem in their stores. But I will now avoid them until this is cleared up. Please keep us informed of any updates. I also like the Brulington Coat Factory. They are always polite. Hope this helps.

[Rachel Morley]

Going what everyone here has said and done, I feel very sure that this person (the Ross employee, the perpetrator) is going to get "performance management" about this issue. That's people power!

[Mahoro]

Christy,
You are a wonderful, courageous person, who has displayed incredible grace and poise in the face of an awful and unmitigated personal assault. Kudos to you for keeping your composure long enough to remove yourself from the situation, as I am sure that many of us (including myself) would have reacted in a much more undignified manner right in the middle of the store (I'm imagining lots of four letter words coming out of my mouth, followed by a flying shopping cart). My best wishes and prayers that you can quickly overcome this trauma, and return to experiencing the sparkly fun excitement that the CD/TG world has in store for each of us, don't let this stop your adventures or hinder your forward progress towards self acceptance.

As far as Ross goes, I have also sent an e-mail to them this evening expressing my extreme disdain for the egregious treatment you received in their Lynnwood store. In it I explained to them that they would be loosing my frequent business until some remediation was made directly to you (I have been going there at least once a week for years), that I could no longer recommend their company to others as I had frequently done in the past, and that I would do my part to spread word of this incident until corrective measures were taken, including them releasing some type of a public statement which asserted All patrons would be treated with dignity and respect.

There is power in numbers, especially numbers with $ signs in front of them, so I encourage other forum members who have not already contacted Ross to do so as well, and share this story with your friends and family who may not be part of this site.

[t-girlxsophie]

I too am Sorry to hear of your terrible experience Christy,What that assistant did to you was unforgiveable,she obviously doesnt know anything of basic human decency

I must say too that you handled this situation with the utmost dignity,and that shines out above all else.I along with many others,Im sure may not have reacted as well as you did,but you have ensured that the fault lies entirely with them.

I am pretty sure the wrath of everyone on here has certainly put the fear into The headquarters of Ross,and will make them ensure that this will cannot,and will not happen again,by not staying silent,and fighting our corner we will surely make them see sense

"Do not go gentle into that good night" Dylan Thomas

[DianeDeBris]

Like so many others, I have just sat here and read this entire thread, start to finish, livid at how Christy was treated -- plainly the only adult, and the only lady, in the incident was Christy. I agree that we should all give the company a couple of days to respond, but I would also suggest that we not merely accept some press-release assurance that "they really do love us;" perhaps we should all, a week or so from now, test out our own local Ross stores, maybe on Saturday the 20th, all over the country, by all going shopping en femme and finding out whether they indeed do match their conduct -- all over the country -- to their promises. Even the past 24 hours or so have demonstrated how much public pressure can be generated, starting from zero. Let's wait and watch!

[sterling12]

Christy unfortunately gets to be A "Pioneer," and as she said it's probably more than a little unsettling to be compared with Rosa Parks. But, here's The Good News! Judging from subsequent Postings, Ross has certainly "gotten The Message!" You all can be assured, that The CEO, Everyone in Legal, virtually all of The V.P's in Marketing and Public Relations already know about this incident. Very soon, all of The Board Members, and just about all The Worker Bee's are going to be aware of what's happened. Even if they don't directly tell The S.A.'s about The Specifics of This Incident, can't you imagine they will start asking questions when they are asked to sign Directives aimed at assuring that Customers don't face discrimination! Then The Corporate Grapevine will go to work!

Even better, The Retail Business is very incestuous. People move around a lot, people send E Mails, people have Cocktail Conversations. This Incident may not get an Article in "Retailing News," but other Companies are going to hear about it over The Next Few Weeks. Try to imagine The Corporate Conversations: "Hey, did you hear what happened at Ross last week?" "Man, did they handle it badly, or what?" Then....other stores and corporations start to make their own plans and policies in case they have to deal with the same eventualities. That's how "Big Change" comes from much smaller incidents.

See....you all have more power than you can imagine. We can "effect" things. Now, we have to learn to always use That Power wisely.

Peace and Love, Joanie

[Patty B.]

Just got caught up on your experience and it's good to see that corporate is paying attention to what its managers are doing. Its great to see all those who've responded to corporate have made a difference. Way to go everyone.

[Jenny Gurl]

Christy,
Kudos to you for keeping your composure long enough to remove yourself from the situation, as I am sure that many of us (including myself) would have reacted in a much more undignified manner right in the middle of the store (I'm imagining lots of four letter words coming out of my mouth, followed by a flying shopping cart).

There is power in numbers, especially numbers with $ signs in front of them, so I encourage other forum members who have not already contacted Ross to do so as well, and share this story with your friends and family who may not be part of this site.

We in the crossdressing community should make every effort to prove any bad stereotypes wrong. Had she thrown a fit the person and witnesses would have just said ejecting her was justified and put a black mark on the entire crossdressing community. Definitely Kudos to her for hanging the cloths up properly and walking out with her head held high in a dignified manor.

Also, I hope our anger is not misplaced permanently. Currently, everyone is doing exactly what needs to be done as the store is responsible for it's employees. We can't always control what our employees do at the moment. If they do nothing to the employee, or back up her actions then further actions should be taken from our community to back up a member. If they fire the manager, make an apology to the offended person, and statement reaffirming their acceptance of all persons using their stores, then what? I don't know what else they could do to make amends for an employee's bad actions.

I hate that this happened, but it since it already has, I hope the remainder of the story is our rights are reaffirmed and a few companies take notice that it is not good to offend your customers. I mostly hope you get past this, recognize it for bigoted actions of a closed minded individual, and become a stronger more beautiful person for it.

I hope you are feeling better. You look great in your avatar, and I am sure there are many stress free shopping trips in your future. Take care and always know you have a safe and supportive place here.

[Kathryn Martin]

See....you all have more power than you can imagine. We can "effect" things. Now, we have to learn to always use That Power wisely.

Peace and Love, Joanie

I completely agree with this. Using this power wisely is a very important thing. There is no utility in keeping to clobber them, but rather make this a (wait for it, I apologize in advance) teachable moment. If we want long term change we have to provide the opportunity for Ross to change and then have it recognized by us. The value of them actually introducing and re-emphasizing their diversity policy with a specific reference to transgender people is huge. It desensitizes part of our environment to us which is so important. And that is what this unfortunate event could really be good for. We need to keep writing to them until some substantive response comes back. Then when we see a difference we need to commend them and let them know that their reaction was appropriate and no reservation against them remain.

[siantv2003]

They deleted one comment of mine, so I added another 6. If we all do the same, they'll be spending so much time chasing the negative publicity that they'll eventually work out it is cheaper to act on the unlawful conduct.

I agree - swamp them with more comments and complaints! Whoever made the decision to delete has no clue about PR. Think of all those who've seen the comments and are now wondering where theyve gone - apart from us! All they need to do is issue an apology and follow it up then ast least people will see them taking action - more positive than deleting comments