Rue 21 Employee Tells 14-Year-Old She’s ‘Too Big’ To Shop There

Eugene, OR — An Oregon teenager said an employee at Rue 21 told her she was “too big” to shop at the store.

Shelby Buster was celebrating her 14th birthday at the mall with a friend Saturday afternoon when they decided to go clothes shopping.

“Me and my friend were walking around the mall for, to spend my birthday money and my mom was sitting in the food court,” Buster said. The teens went into Rue 21, where Buster said she was discriminated against because of her size.

“I walked in and the lady at the front counter said, ‘Hey, you’re too big to be in this store, I need you to leave,'” Buster said.

The teenager said her friend was in the back of the store looking at perfume.

“And so she checked out and walked back and my mom came back to talk to them and they’re like, ‘Oh we’re so sorry,'” Buster said. Her mother contacted KEZI, who contacted the store. The Rue 21 district manager said that they were aware of the situation and were looking into it. The district manager also said the store is pulling footage from that afternoon to figure out what happened.

Shelby Buster and her friend, Jennica, were told to write down exactly what happened in the store.

“Seriously, that’s disrespectful and rude. Just because I’m bigger than you guys are, I’m not a 14 or smaller,” Buster said. “It makes no sense why they would do that.”

Rue 21 told KEZI that the company does not tolerate discrimination. Shelby Buster and her mother are still waiting for a response from the store.

Earlier this year, Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries came under fire for saying he only wanted good-looking people working his stores, “because good-looking people attract other good looking-looking people.” Jeffries also said that his stores “go after the cool kids… the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends.”

He added, “A lot of don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong.”