Portland, raw – A Multnomah County DDA grand jury has ordered Walmart to pay $4.4 million in damages to a man who sued the store, saying he was subjected to racial slurs and harassment by a Walmart employee in a Portland, Oregon area store in 2020.
According to the lawsuit, the employee “spy” on Duffy.
KGW reported on Mangom that while shopping, he ordered him to leave and called the police when he refused.
According to the lawsuit and a press release from his attorney, Manjum, who was 59 at the time, visited a Walmart in Wood Village on March 26, 2020, to purchase a light bulb for his refrigerator. After Mangum arrives, he notices store employee Joe Williams watching him while he’s shopping.
Williams told Mangum to leave the store, but Mangum refused, saying he had done nothing wrong. Mangum’s lawyers said Williams told Mangum that he would call the police to tell them that Mangum had threatened to “smash his face”.
Williams called the non-emergency police dispatch line and told the operator he had “someone refusing to leave,” the lawsuit says.
According to Mangum’s attorney, deputies from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office responded and “refused to take action against Mangum.” Lawyers said lawmakers made the decision based on Williams’ “changing interpretations” of why he had called and of his “reputation of false police reporting.”
According to Mangum’s attorney, the next day, Sheriff’s Sergeant Brian White and his other deputy met with a Wal-Mart manager and assistant manager and explained that deputies had noticed a “pattern of behavior” as Williams was calling the police to report “dangerous activity.” Situations, such as clients physically assaulting him or other employees, “were not happening.
The store and Walmart officials kept him in the job for several more months. She fired him in July 2020 for “mishandling of Walmart property worth $35,” according to the lawsuit.
In his testimony, Williams denied allegations that he had mistakenly called the police, saying that Mangum had threatened to beat him.
Mangum sued Walmart for negligent retention and action against the person calling the police with improper intent.
“He lives the same message of self-respect he teaches young people: Stand up for yourself when you know you’re right,” Manjum’s lawyer, Greg Kafoury, said in a statement. “Because of his courage, we were able to show the jury an unreasonable failure of responsibility by the world’s largest company.”
Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove called some of the allegations to be discredited and said Walmart considers the ruling “excessive”.
“We do not tolerate discrimination. We believe the ruling is exaggerated and not supported by evidence,” Hargrove said in a statement to the news outlet.
He said Mangum interfered with Walmart partners while they monitored and stopped the confirmed thieves, then refused to leave despite repeatedly asking him.
“We are reviewing our options, including the proposals, after the trial,” he said.
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