When Brenda McElmore showed up to get her hair dyed at a local JCPenney salon in Downey, Calif., she probably didn't expect to hear "no." Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. According to McElmore, the receptionist at the front desk told her, "We don't do African American hair." McElmore says she was "astonished" to be denied service strictly because of her race.

After writing several letters to JCPenney about the incident, a representative responded with an apology, explaining that the "salon's receptionist did not feel [the salon's employees] had the technical proficiency to perform the service required." McElmore was not satisfied with that answer. "If you only want color -- I'm not asking for a perm or a style or anything else -- it doesn't take a special person or a special skill to do that," she said during a press conference last month .

McElmore recently called upon prominent defense attorney Gloria Allred to represent her in a lawsuit against JCPenney. In the lawsuit, Allred charges that JCPenney violated California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits businesses from denying services based on race.