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Sephora Stores To Close For One Hour As 16,000 Employees Go Through Diversity Training

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

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Neetu Arnold Contributor
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Nearly 16,000 Sephora employees will not work normal operations for one hour Wednesday due to diversity training following an alleged racial profiling incident with a Grammy-nominated singer in April.

R&B singer SZA said security was called in the Calabasas, California, store because an employee allegedly thought she was stealing, Reuters reported Sunday.

“Lmao Sandy Sephora location 614 Calabasas called security to make sure I wasn’t stealing,” the singer tweeted April 30.”We had a long talk. U have a blessed day Sandy.”

Sephora responded to SZA’s tweet May 1, saying the company was “actively working with our teams to address the situation immediately.”

Sephora said the diversity workshop was in development for more than six months while a campaign advocating for inclusion among staff called “We Belong to Something Beautiful,” was in working progress for one year, according to Reuters.

“While it is true that SZA’s experience occurred prior to the launch of the ‘We Belong to Something Beautiful’ campaign, the campaign was not the result of this Tweet,” Sephora said in a statement, Reuters reported. (RELATED: Starbucks’s ‘Racial Bias Training’ Likely Flawed And Ineffective, Analyst Says)

The beauty product company’s stores, corporate office and distribution center will be closed during training, according to CNN.

“This store closure is part of a long journey in our aspiration to create a more inclusive beauty community and workplace, which has included forming employee resource groups, building Social Impact and philanthropic programs, and hosting inclusive mindset training for all supervisors,” Sephora said to The Daily Caller News Foundation over email Monday.

SZA was nominated for multiple Grammy awards in 2017 and 2018.

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