Valley bookstore asks man to leave children's area

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - An employee of a popular bookstore in the Valley has been reprimanded for asking a Scottsdale man to leave the children's section.

The man was doing nothing more than shopping by himself, which the employee claimed violated store policy.

Omar Amin, a doctor in the Valley, told ABC15 he has visited the Barnes and Noble store near Loop 101 and Shea many times before to buy some books for his grandchildren, Alex and Nicholas.

However, Amin claims during a visit to the store's children's section in early May, he was humiliated by a manager.

"One of the managers approached me," said Amin. "He told me 'Are you here by yourself?' I said 'yes.' He said 'You cannot be here. You have to be out of here.'"

Amin claims the manager cited a policy to him that prevents men from shopping in the children's section alone.

"I told him I did not see any signs saying men are not allowed in this area, so I did not break any rules," said Amin.

However, the implication that Amin had ulterior motives for visiting the children's section left him livid.

He demanded an apology from the manager but, according to Amin, the man refused.

"I'm not a little punk," said Amin. "I'm not going to take this. It's unacceptable."

A Barnes and Noble spokesperson released a statement to ABC15 that reads:

“We want to apologize to Dr. Amin for a situation in which Dr. Amin was asked to leave the children’s section of our Scottsdale, Arizona store. We should not have done so. It  is not our policy to ask customers to leave any section of our stores without justification. We value Dr. Amin as a customer and look forward to welcoming him in any of our stores.”

"This is not enough for me," said Amin. "I've been insulted and humiliated in public."

Amin informed the Barnes and Noble spokesperson he wanted a personal apology from the manager himself, in the middle of the store with cameras rolling.

The spokesperson said he'd get back to Amin on his request.

He declined to comment on the reprimand the Barnes and Noble manager received for asking Amin to leave the store.