Tyrese Gibson demands 1 million dollars from the American chain of home improvement supplies.
The actor Tyrese Gibson is suing Home Depot following an alleged incident of racial profiling at a Los Angeles-area store earlier this year.
According to a complaint filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, the Fast and furious visited a Home Depot store in West Hills, California, with two associates on February 11, and the trio “experienced outrageous consumer discriminatory mistreatment and racial profiling”.
Gibson and his associates, Eric Mora and Manuel Hernandezare seeking $1 million in damages, the amount Gibson estimates he has spent at the home improvement company over the years, as well as statutory damages, attorneys’ fees, punitive damages, a declaratory judgment declaring that Home Depot’s actions violated California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, pre- and post-trial interests, and “such other relief as the Court deems just and appropriate.”
A Home Depot spokesperson said in a statement to EW: “Diversity and respect for all people are fundamental to who we are, and we do not tolerate discrimination in any form. We value Mr. Gibson as a customer, and in the Months after this happened, we contacted him and his attorneys multiple times to try to resolve his concerns. We will continue to do so.”
Gibson’s complaint to Home Depot
Gibson’s complaint alleges that during an extended outing, due to an “alleged glitch in the system,” fans began gathering and taking notice of Gibson. Not wanting to cause a disturbance at the store, Gibson decided to leave and wait in his car while Mora and Hernandez completed the transaction.
The complaint says that at this point, Gibson told the teller about his plan and that his associates would use his credit card, to which the teller “acknowledged Gibson and said he understood.” Then, the lawsuit states, “Gibson asked the teller if he needed anything else from him to complete the transaction. The teller said no and Gibson was free to go.”
At this point, the cashier allegedly continued to refuse to complete the transaction, even after Gibson FaceTimed and then returned to the store to work things out. “The cashier provided no reasonable explanation other than repeating ‘store policy’ and demanded to see a form of identification,” the complaint states. “The manager refused to speak to Gibson in person. It was only after a significant heated discussion with the cashier that Gibson was finally able to complete the transaction.”
The lawsuit adds: “The actions of the cashier and manager were discriminatory based on race and origin. There is no other plausible explanation for Plaintiffs’ mistreatment. The transaction was rejected, despite Gibson’s repeated authorizations, due to Claimants’ skin color and, in the case of Mora and Hernández, also because of their national origin. This is a clear and deplorable instance of discriminatory mistreatment and racial profiling of the consumer. The Home Depot’s treatment of Gibson, Mora and Hernandez was humiliating and demeaning.”
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
