A Black woman says that she was harassed and discriminated against by an Ulta Beauty employee in January and called out the company for the employee’s behavior.
TikTok user @ellechardanaye shared her experience at an Ulta in Altamonte Springs, Florida, where she says she frequently shops. While in the store, Elle was looking at multiple products when she was approached by an employee who asked her if she needed a basket or assistance.
Elle said she took the basket and placed a lipliner, body scrub, and eyelashes inside it. Then she searched for her friend inside the store so they could check out.
The employee asked Elle if she needed help again, but she declined. While Elle and her friend were in the perfume section, the employee followed them. She told the women to use the tester and not open the boxes. As they headed to the checkout line, the employee asked her friend again if she needed a basket.
“So now my best friend is annoyed, and she’s like, ‘No, I don’t need a basket. I only have one item. Can you stop asking me if I need a basket? I only have one item,’” the woman recalled her friend saying to the employee.
The employee explained that she was missing items from the shelf and asked them if they’d seen them. The products the employee described were in Elle’s basket because she was going to buy them, she said.
Elle said her friend started to film the interaction because they felt like they were being harassed and were “shocked” by the employee’s behavior. The employee named Denise, who said she was the experience manager, told someone to call the police because she felt “attacked.”
Elle and her friend remained outside of the store until an officer arrived at the scene. Elle claimed she told the cop her side of the story before he went into the store. But after he spoke to the manager, he told Elle and her friend that they had been trespassing since they had gotten into a confrontation with the employee. Elle said he took a picture of her and ordered her to go to another Ulta location.
“I was so hurt. My heart was hurt. I’ve never stolen anything in my life. The thought of stealing never comes up in my mind. I go to that store all the time. I’m a middle school teacher. I always go in there with my makeup done and in my professional attire. I have great interactions in that store,” she explained. “There was no altercation. I never used profanity. I never raised my voice.”
Elle’s video went viral and garnered nearly 2 million views on the platform. In a follow-up video, she said Ulta’s headquarters reached out to her to rectify the situation after reviewing her case. “They offered her a personal experience at one of their locations and a $200 gift card.
It’s unclear if the employee was terminated, but in a statement to Atlanta Black Star, an Ulta spokesperson confirmed that they had looked into the incident.
“We always work to create welcoming and inclusive guest experiences, and we’re truly disheartened to learn we fell short of this guest’s expectations,” the statement said.
“Immediately after reviewing the incident, we implemented the highest levels of corrective action and reinforced our commitments and practices with our store team.”
