Friday, March 29, 2024

Walmart Ordered to Pay Oregon Man $4M for Racial Profiling | Video

*A jury in Oregon has ordered Walmart to pay a Black man $4.4 million in damages after he claimed in a lawsuit that he was racially profiled while shopping at the store.

Michael Mangum, 61, was shopping for a light bulb at a store in Wood Village, Oregon, on March 26, 2020, when a former staffer, a white male named Joe Williams, racially profiled him, according to the lawsuit, CNN reports. Williams tried to have him falsely arrested when Mangum refused to leave the store. 

“Noticing that he was under surveillance by a Walmart loss prevention employee, Mangum objected, believing he was racially profiled,” his attorney said in the news release. 

When Mangum refused to leave the store, Williams threatened to “call the police and tell them that Mangum had threatened to smash him in the face,” the release said.

READ MORE: Walmart Offering $200K Per Year for New Store Managers

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Walmart

Multnomah County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the store and decided Mangum committed no offense that required further action due to “shifting explanations as to why the employee called” law enforcement and because of Williams’ reputation for making false reports to police, according to the Associated Press citing the lawsuit.

The store managers were aware that Williams had a pattern of reporting “dangerous active situations” that were not actually happening, according to the AP. 

“Defendant Walmart, by and through its management officials was aware that Williams had, on previous occasions, provided false information about customers to police officers, and knew that police had complained that he was not to be trusted,” the lawsuit said, PEOPLE reports. 

Williams was ultimately fired by Walmart in July 2020 for “mishandling $35 of Walmart property,” per the AP.

Mangum took legal action against Walmart in December 2021, alleging Williams called the police with the intent to, “unlawfully discriminate against” him.

Mangum’s attorney, Greg Kafoury, noted that his client’s job would have been at risk had he been charged with a crime due to Williams’ “lies and bullying.”

Randy Hargrove, Walmart senior director for national media relations, said in a statement that the $4 million verdict was “excessive”.

“We do not tolerate discrimination. We believe the verdict is excessive and is not supported by the evidence,” Hargrove said in the statement. “Mr. Mangum was never stopped by Walmart’s Asset Protection. He interfered with our associates as they were surveilling and then stopped confirmed shoplifters, and then refused to leave despite being asked to repeatedly by our staff and Multnomah County deputies. We are reviewing our options including post-trial motions.”

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