LOS ANGELES (AP) — An associate has left a lobbying firm working to bring a Wal-Mmart store to Chinatown in Los Angeles after she posed as a student reporter at a news conference held by a labor group opposing the store.
The Los Angeles Times (lat.ms/KLzwYh) reports that city records show Stephanie Harnett worked for Mercury Public Affairs, which was hired by Wal-Mart to promote the project.
The project drew opposition from labor groups. Last week, when one of them held a news conference, Harnett attended saying she was a college student journalist, and interviewed a warehouse worker.
Mercury released a statement saying it did not approve of or direct Harnett's actions, and a Wal-Mart spokesman called them "unacceptable, misleading and wrong."
A message left at a listing for Harnett was not immediately returned.
___
Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com
