A WALMART SHOPPER has filed a $475,000 lawsuit against the retail chain after he was allegedly racially profiled and falsely accused of stealing a vacuum cleaner.
Ryan Redditt, a 46-year-old black man, claims Walmart employees followed him out of the store, berating him for a vacuum cleaner he actually purchased.
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According to the lawsuit, which was filed Friday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, on July 11, 2023, Reddit purchased a vacuum from the Tigard Walmart in Oregon, paying at a self-checkout and leaving the store.
Upon leaving, Reddit claimed an employee asked for his receipt, but before he could process the initial request, another employee allegedly shouted, “You’re going to jail, the police will be called!” according to OregonLive.
Redditt said a uniformed security guard also shouted “Why do you have to steal?”
The buyer was confused and thought he was talking to someone else because he knew he paid for the item.
As soon as he realized they were heading towards him, he was followed to his car by three people; two employees and a person who looked like a customer who was allegedly recording a video and taking photos of Reddit and its sign.
The person who allegedly recorded it told employees, “Don’t worry, I have this all recorded,” and told Redditt, “We’re going to find you and call the police. We’re going to put this on social media so everyone knows who you are.”
The Reddit lawsuit also alleged that people who followed him yelled, “You should get a job! Then you won’t have to steal” and “I’m so tired of you.”
It also claimed that people told Reddit that the photos would be posted on social media so that police could find him.
“It was incredibly insulting,” Redditt said.
He also shared with the outlet that he owns a food cart and would never steal from another business.
“I work really, really hard… It was humbling to be put in that position.”
Reddit told the channel it left out of fear that the situation would escalate as people said things that “were completely and utterly untrue.”
On his mind was police brutality and cruelty against black men.
“My mindset was, ‘I did absolutely nothing wrong. I really don’t need to stay here and have much more fun with this. I’m being humiliated,'” he said.
Another lawsuit against Walmart
In 2022, Walmart paid $4.4 million to an Oregon man after an incident at a store, the report said. Associated Press.
Michael Mangum claimed employee Joe Williams “spied” on him while he was shopping in 2020, demanded he leave the store and then called the police when he refused to leave.
The buyer said Williams threatened to tell police that Mangum had threatened to “smash him in the face.”
Mangum sued for “negligent detention and action against person summoning police with improper intent.”
The suit said Walmart was aware that Williams had “provided false information about customers” to officers previously and “police complained that he was untrustworthy.”
The Associated Press reported that Williams was fired by Walmart in July 2020 for “mishandling” $35 of his property.
According to the lawsuit, an asset protection investigator at the store called police and said he knew Reddit was a thief because “he didn’t go through any retail outlets. any point of sale. …He didn’t stop anywhere to pay.”
‘SCARLET LETTER’
The torment didn’t end when Reddit left the parking lot because, in the months that followed, the buyer lived in fear.
Following the incident, Reddit reported the incident to Walmart’s corporate office and received no response for months.
He told the channel that he spent those long months worried that the police would stop him and drag him out of the car.
“I was driving around with a scarlet letter, so to speak,” Reddit told the outlet.
“I could have had an unwanted or unwanted interaction with the police. …It’s really hard to quantify the mental anguish of being put in this situation.”
The weight of photos and videos posted on social media at any given time also weighed on him.
Only after hiring an attorney, Noah Horst, did he learn that Walmart had contacted Tigard police on Sept. 26, about two months after the incident, saying it was a mistake.
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The retailer told police that Reddit had in fact paid for the vacuum cleaner and this was proven with transaction records and surveillance videos.
He was shocked by the company’s admission, but came to the difficult decision that he had been targeted by employees because of his race.
“I’m the kind of person who really tries to give people the benefit of the doubt,” Redditt said.
“I really try to be meticulous in choosing to identify this.”
Walmart told The US Sun that it received and reviewed the Reddit complaint.
“We will respond appropriately in court,” the company added.
ANOTHER PROCESS
This was not the first lawsuit filed against the company for racial discrimination.
In 2022, Walmart was ordered to pay $4.4 million to another Oregon man, the Associated Press.
Michael Mangum claimed an employee “spied” on him while he was shopping in 2020, demanded he leave the store and then called the police when he refused to leave.
The shopper said the employee threatened to tell police that Mangum had threatened to “punch him in the face.”
Mangum sued for “negligent detention and action against person summoning police with improper intent.”
Police told Walmart that the same employee had made similar calls previously, but the retailer allowed them to continue working.
The Associated Press reported that the employee was fired by Walmart in July 2020 for “mishandling” $35 of his property.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
