Foot Locker security guard stuck his finger in a shopper's belly button - and groped another: lawsuit

Yahoo

19-05-2025

A New York City couple is suing Foot Locker after a security guard working for the chain allegedly groped the two men during a shopping excursion, twice inserting his finger into one's navel before commenting on – and pawing at – the other's 'nice booty,' according to a disquieting human rights lawsuit obtained by The Independent.
Following the 'shocked' duo's hasty exit from the store, the unnamed guard was later seen 'ogling… and harassing' another customer, the lawsuit contends.
It says plaintiffs Christian Leitch, a 38-year-old animator, and Brian Williams, a 47-year-old designer who also works in sales, contacted Foot Locker management about the incident, but never got a response.
'People need to be aware that things like this don't just happen at a club or at a bar,' Williams told The Independent. 'It's happening when you're shopping for a pair of socks.'
Leitch, for his part, told The Independent that he was left 'flabbergasted' and 'freaked out' by the creepy situation.
A Foot Locker spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
The 'deeply unsettling and inappropriate encounter' occurred on the afternoon of June 24, 2024, at a Foot Locker in Harlem, according to Leitch and Williams's complaint, which was filed Thursday in New York State Supreme Court by attorney Robert Wisniewski.
The two 'are a gay couple [whose] interactions and demeanor made their relationship readily apparent,' says the complaint.
Williams had a family reunion coming up, and he and Leitch 'were out and about doing some shopping,' he told The Independent.
A Foot Locker security guard in Manhattan, the company's careers site shows, earns $16.00 to $18.75 an hour to 'act as a customer-friendly visual deterrent to crime.' Duties include the ability to 'stand in a professional position (for up to an entire shift),' and to 'observe and report suspicious activities and persons on property.'
However, upon entering the crowded West 125th Street store, which sits diagonally across from the world-famous Apollo Theater, Leitch and Williams were promptly subjected to the 'unwarranted attention' of a security guard identified in court filings as 'John Doe,' the complaint goes on.
It says Doe, who is described as 'an African-American male, approximately 5'10' to 5'11' with a slender build, wearing a bucket hat and a navy/black jacket,' forced himself on both Leitch and Williams 'in a manner that was both intrusive and inappropriate.'
Williams, who is Black, told The Independent that he and Leitch, who is also Black, noticed Doe staring intently at them but that they 'didn't pay it any mind, because that's what security guards do.'
He said he was browsing the footwear section when Doe made 'several inappropriate comments towards me.' According to the complaint, Doe told Williams 'that he had a nice booty,' and 'touched him without his consent.'
'He repeated this action three times while no other employee was around,' the complaint states.
Doe then turned his attention to Leitch, who told The Independent that he was waiting to try on a pair of Nikes when the guard walked over and 'pounced on me.'
'Without any provocation or justification, John Doe lifted Leitch's shirt and began to touch his stomach and stuck his finger in his belly button, repeating this action twice,' the complaint alleges.
Leitch and Williams were 'initially too shocked to fully process the incident,' according to the complaint. It says the couple then 'immediately left the store because they felt unsafe around John Doe's presence.'
The two, neither of whom have any sort of criminal record, were wise in removing themselves from the scene, according to Wisniewski.
'The choice is either to get into a confrontation or walk away,' he told The Independent. '[They] would have been arrested.'
Once the two had managed to grasp what had occurred, Leitch and Williams returned to the same Foot Locker so they could snap a photo of John Doe in order to report him, the complaint continues.
While there, the complaint maintains, Leitch and Williams 'observed John Doe ogling at and harassing a… male customer.'
Doe was 'literally on top of him,' Leitch claimed.
That evening, Williams penned an email about Doe's alleged behavior and sent it to Foot Locker's Customer Care department, which never got back to him, according to the complaint.
'I contacted Foot Locker that very day, and I did receive an automated reply saying, 'Thank you for your message,' and then nothing else ever happened with it,' Williams told The Independent. 'I didn't want to have to take legal action, but here we are.'
Leitch and Williams's lawsuit argues that the 'sexual nature of John Doe's assault and harassment,' along with his 'ogling of other men,' is evidence that Doe targeted them 'because of their sex, gender, and sexual orientation.'
Foot Locker, the suit asserts, should have been aware of Doe's 'propensity to commit sexual harassment and/or assault' against customers, and failed to stop him from doing so. Leitch and Williams say they have sustained 'emotional suffering and distress,' along with 'mental anguish,' and claim they will 'continue to suffer same in the future.'
Foot Locker's roughly 2,400 stores can be found in 20 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Although the footwear and apparel retailer reported worldwide sales of $8 billion in 2024, it reported a net loss for the first quarter of 2025, due in no small part to concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed tariff regime. On Thursday, Dick's Sporting Goods announced it would be acquiring Foot Locker in a $2.4 billion cash-and-stock deal.
Leitch and Williams are demanding a jury trial, along with compensatory damages and punitive damages 'to deter similar behavior in the future.'