New mother upset after cashier searches car seat, pulls blanket off child

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - The mother of a newborn is extremely frustrated after an experience she had at the Lowe’s along Colerain Avenue in Colerain.

Cassandra Stewart went into the store and put a car seat, with her two-month-old child sleeping inside of it, inside a cart and grabbed some supplies. When Stewart went to check out, she placed her items on the counter and says the cashier wanted to do a second check of her cart.

“After I got everything out, the cashier came over the register, picked up his car seat, while (my son is) in it,” Stewart said. “(The cashier) like leaned it forward to make sure there was nothing left underneath the car seat and then proceeded to say ‘I need to search your car seat.'"

Stewart tells FOX19 she felt like she was being accused of taking something but was more upset about what the cashier did next.

“So, after you lift up the cover and see that my brand-new baby is in the car seat, you proceed to pull the blanket off of him while he’s sleeping,” Stewart said.

Lowe’s Corporate Communications told FOX19 in an email: “We have apologized to Ms. Stewart for the experience she had yesterday. It’s always our intention customers feel comfortable while shopping in our stores and we are reviewing this situation thoroughly."

The Fairfield mother said a representative from Lowe’s offered to refund the cost of her purchase that day but Stewart said that’s not where her concerns lie.

“I really just hope, one, the cashier is trained correctly,” Stewart said. “That’s obviously not their store policy from the first (customer service representative) that I talked to -- but I wouldn’t want this to happen to another family.”

Copyright 2018 WXIX. All rights reserved.