Tyrese Gibson sues Home Depot for $1m after alleged ‘racial profiling’
Tyrese Gibson is suing The Home Depot for $1 million after alleged ‘racial profiling’ which he says took place during a store visit.
The Fast & Furious star alongside two other plaintiffs - Eric Mora and Manuel Hernandez - filed a lawsuit in LA against the company on Wednesday (August 9).
The suit alleged that the three 'experienced outrageous discriminatory mistreatment and consumer racial profiling' upon a visit to the West Hills branch in California back in February of this year.
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The actor, alongside Mora and Hernandez who 'regularly provide construction services to Gibson', are currently seeking over $1 million in damages.
They are also asking for 'a declaratory judgment' declaring that The Home Depot's alleged actions earlier this year (11 February) violated the state's Unruh Civil Rights Act.
It all started, according to the lawsuit, when Gibson waited in his car while his two associates paid for the goods with his credit card which he would allow.
However, according to the suit, the cashier 'refused to complete the purchase transaction', with the lawsuit alleging: "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."
It went on to claim that The Home Depot employees 'purposely' refused the request based on the trio's 'skin color'.
"[They] 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," it says.
The lawsuit has also claimed The Home Depot 'has refused to take any responsibility'.
It alleged that the company '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'.
The trio are now 'taking a stand' against the company to 'hold it accountable'.
"The company needs to understand that there are consequences for discriminatory mistreatment and consumer racial profiling," the suit states.
A Home Depot spokesperson released a statement to UNILAD today (11 August) to address the lawsuit.
It reads: "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," it concluded.
UNILAD has reached out to Home Depot for further comment.
Rhiannon Ingle