
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 4, 1991                   TAG: 9104040123
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: JOPPA, MD.                                LENGTH: Short

RACIAL NOTATION DRAWS LEGAL FIRE/ STORES RECORD PATRONS' RACE ON CHECKS;

A national clothing chain routinely records the race of patrons on the backs of personal checks as "a quality control mechanism," a lawyer for the company said. The practice by Cignal, a Joppa-based subsidiary of Merry-Go-Round Enterprises Inc., was reported in Wednesday's editions of The Boston Globe.

The newspaper quoted Jacqueline Perczek, a native of Colombia, as saying she recently noticed the practice when she bought clothes at a Cignal store in Boston.

"For some reason I was staring at the lady's hand filling in the back of the check . . . When she got to the section marked race, she left it blank," the newspaper quoted Perczek, 22, as saying.

Perczek said the race section was filled in when she received her canceled check in a statement later.

"It's a way to distinguish one John Jones from another John Jones," said Stacy Allen, a collection lawyer for the company. She said it also is "a quality control mechanism" and "the same exact stamp" is used in all 700 of its stores in 38 states.

Donald Brown, lawyer for a Boston consumer who complained of the practice, said he was investigating whether legal action could be taken.

"It's a classification that's bogus," he said. "Whether I have good grounds for a lawsuit is not yet determined. But morally, it's wrong. What purpose does it serve?"

"It's outrageous to see that people still do something like that and it's even worse that they do it secretly . . . wait until you leave," Perczek said.

by CNB