Tyrese Gibson wants justice after an unfortunate trip to the Home Depot.
This week, the 44-year-old actor filed a new lawsuit against the construction and home repair retail giant alleging discrimination and racial profiling at one of its stores in West Hills, California.
The incident in question occurred back in February, according to the Fast and the Furious actor and the two men with whom he has filed the lawsuit. And now, he is seeking more than $1 million in damages as well as a punitive amount over their allegation that Home Depot violated the state of California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act.
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In the lawsuit, Gibson and two other plaintiffs — identified as Eric Mora and Manuel Hernandez — claim they were racially profiled during a store visit back on February 11 of this year.
The issue allegedly occurred after Gibson decided to wait in his car for the two men to shop at the store, as he didn’t want to create a scene with fans following them around inside. The actor and musician gave the other two men his credit card to use for the transaction. But when “the cashier refused to complete the purchase transaction,” according to the lawsuit, Gibson had to enter the store to address it.
Once inside the store, the lawsuit asserts Gibson got into a “significant heated discussion” with a manager who “refused to speak” about the transaction and delayed the process:
“The cashier gave no reasonable explanation other than repeating ‘store policy’ and demanded to see a form of identification. The manager refused to speak with Gibson in person. It was only after significant heated discussion with the cashier that Gibson was finally able to complete the transaction.”
Furthermore, the lawsuit claims store employees delayed the transaction and refused to assist on racist grounds:
“[Employees] purposely interfered with and refused to process the transaction based on their groundless suspicion of Gibson, Mora and Hernandez arising from their skin color, and in the case of Mora and Hernandez, their national origin.”
Gibson actually recorded a portion of the encounter on his phone as it happened in February and posted it to social media. In that recording, per People, he can be heard saying this to the cashier:
“I understand policy, but you know you’re being extra right now.”
And later on in it, Tyrese added more about how long he’s been going to that particular Home Depot:
“My problem with what just happened is I’ve been living three blocks from here for 10 years, and if this is a policy… Why are you the first person to stop my team and my ability to come in here when I’ve been coming to this particular Home Depot for 10 years?”
In the court filing itself, Gibson, Mora, and Hernandez slam Home Depot for having “refused to take any responsibility” for the contentious store situation. The plaintiffs asserted:
“[Home Depot] doubled down, lawyered-up, and treated Gibson, Mora and Hernandez and what happened to them as not worthy of any due consideration — instead inferring that they are the problem. Gibson, Mora and Hernandez are taking a stand against The Home Depot to hold it accountable. The company needs to understand that there are consequences for discriminatory mistreatment and consumer racial profiling.”
Wow…
As for Home Depot, they shared a statement on the lawsuit with People on Thursday saying they do not “tolerate discrimination in any form.”
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They also added that their representatives have been trying to address this issue with Gibson since it happened:
“Diversity and respect for all people are core to who we are, and we do not tolerate discrimination in any form. We value Mr. Gibson as a customer, and in the months since this happened, we’ve reached out to him and his attorneys several times to try to resolve his concerns. We will continue to do so.”
Now, Gibson wants that aforementioned $1 million — the amount he says he’s spent in Home Depot over the years — and then some, along with a real resolution to this unfortunate incident.
Reactions, Perezcious readers?
[Image via MEGA/WENN/YouTube]
