FOXNews.com: Wronged Doc Reads Riot Act to Bookstore

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Wronged Doc Reads Riot Act to Bookstore Jun 5th 2012, 17:20 An Arizona doctor thrown out of a Barnes & Noble bookstore because he was alone in the children's section said he will sue the company if he does not get a public apology from the employee who ousted him. Dr. Omar Amin, 73, of Scottsdale, said he was shopping for books for his grandchildren at his neighborhood bookstore May 4 when he was bounced simply because he was not accompanied by a child. After initially defending its handling of the matter, the company issued a statement apologizing to Amin. But it wasn't good enough for Amin, who is still stinging from the incident. "I do not intend to let this slide by," Amin told FoxNews.com. "I want the person who insulted me in the store to apologize to me in public, in the store, and on camera. If I do not get that, I am going to court." He said he also wants to see the letter of reprimand that the company claims it issued to the employee. Amin said he wound up in the reading area of the children's section after he received a call on his cellphone. He said the area appeared to be empty, and he went there to avoid disturbing other customers. "This man approached me and asked if I was in the store by myself," Amin explained. "He said 'You cannot stay. This is not an area where men are allowed to be by themselves.' "I did not break any rules," he said, adding that he was "firmly escorted out" of the store. "If that is Barnes & Noble's policy, they should put up a sign saying men are not allowed beyond this point unless they are with children." Amin, who emigrated from Egypt 45 years ago and is a U.S. citizen, said he was told a female customer had complained about his presence in the children's section, and said the employee who threw him out cited reports of alleged child molestation in other bookstores. Amin told FoxNews.com he believes his civil rights were violated. The Arizona Republic identified the Barnes & Noble employee as Todd Voris. In a statement released to FoxNews.com on Tuesday, Barnes & Noble vice president Mark Bottini said, "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, Ariz., store."    "We should not have done so," Bottini said. "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." Bottini's apology came after the company released a statement last week, saying it had "acted appropriately" in removing Amin from the store, according to the Arizona Republic. The exact details of the woman's complaint are not known, but reports of alleged child molestation over the past year in libraries in the state may have prompted her concern. A 31-year-old registered sex offender, for instance, was arrested in February for allegedly preying on young girls at a library in nearby Phoenix. Officer David Pubins of the Scottsdale Police Department told FoxNews.com he did not know of any similar recent incidents in Scottsdale.

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