Cousins! Tyrese Gibson is taking legal action against Home Depot for an incident involving himself and his business associates as he claims a customer service cashier allegedly violated their civil rights in an unfair exchange.
Tyrese filed a lawsuit within the Los Angeles Superior court on August 9th, Wednesday upon claims of racial profiling as he states employees of the West Hills located store racially profiled him and his associates back in February of this year.
According to court documents obtained by Fox 11 News, the suit accuses Home Depot of negligent hiring, supervision, and retention. Tyrese associates Eric Mora and Manual Hernandez are named as plaintiffs in the suit.
The 44-year-old is seeking more than 1 million dollars in compensatory damages in which Tyrese says he has spent over time at Home Depot. It has been stated that he is also seeking punitive damages.
Reports read that Tyrese and his associates traveled to Home Depot located on Victory Boulevard on February 11th. He is said to have been recognized by customers as he attempted to shop and decided to leave because he didn’t want to cause any distractions. The singer says that he provided his construction workers with his credit card to pay for the items while he went to his car.
“One of the most recognizable Black actors and musicians in the United States, and his associates … experienced outrageous discriminatory mistreatment and consumer racial profiling first-hand inside the Home Depot retail store in West Hills,” reads the suit. “The company needs to understand that there are consequences for discriminatory mistreatment and consumer racial profiling.”
Within a video obtained by TMZ, a cashier is seen in a Facetime call prohibiting Tyrese’s associates from paying for the three selected items with his credit card as she demanded a photo ID be presented. After a brief exchange, Tyrese then returned to complete the purchase.
The suit declares that Tyrese and his associates are “committed to doing their part to advance civil rights and put an end to the despicable practice of discriminatory mistreatment and consumer racial profiling at the Home Depot, and, by extension, all retail stores.”
The issued suit alleges that the store manager refused to speak with Tyrese and that the transaction was completed after a heated exchange.
The complaint declares that Tyrese alongside fellow plaintiffs suffered shame, humiliation and mental suffering.
“There is no other plausible explanation for the mistreatment of plaintiffs,”reads the suit.