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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Nordstrom Accused Of Detaining Teen

Associated Press

The mother of a 16-year-old girl has sued Nordstrom and a member of its security staff, contending her daughter was wrongly detained at the department store in the Vancouver Mall.

Susan B. Thayer filed the lawsuit Friday in Clark County Superior Court on behalf of her daughter, Katherine Jacy Thayer. Nordstrom and Brenda Westerlund were named as defendants.

The lawsuit contends that Katherine Thayer was in the store on April 6 to return some items and to shop for summer clothes. The lawsuit contends that Westerlund or other store employees secretly watched Thayer undress in a dressing room.

When Thayer emerged from the dressing room to finish exchanging and buying clothes, “Ms. Westerlund handcuffed her wrist, twisted her arm behind her back and forced her across the merchandise display floor and up the escalator in full view of the public in handcuffs,” the lawsuit said.

Thayer was taken to a security office where “she was belittled, humiliated, treated like a thief and subjected to custodial interrogation,” the lawsuit said.

Bill Brenner, the store manager, told The Oregonian newspaper of Portland, that he had not seen the lawsuit on Friday and could not comment.

Paula Stanley, a spokeswoman for the Seattle-based chain, said “Nordstrom is sorry that this incident happened, and we apologized immediately to the customer.

“We have also met with the customer’s father and attorney in person to try to come to a solution with them, but their demands have been unreasonable.”

Thayer’s father is Steven Thayer, a prominent Vancouver criminal defense lawyer. The attorney who filed the lawsuit for the Thayers is William Baumgartner.

Stanley said Nordstrom monitors dressing rooms for customer service and loss prevention but doesn’t use two-way mirrors or cameras. She said the measures are acceptable industry standards.