Tyrese is speaking out about his lawsuit against Home Depot! In a new interview with TMZ, the ‘Baby Boy’ actor shared a few words about why he struggled to file a lawsuit against the home improvement store.
During the conversation Tyrese shared, “I really struggled with even filing the lawsuit because Home Depot is literally my favorite place. It’s like my Disneyland and this might sound crazy but I probably spent a minimum of 8-10 million dollars at Home Depot over the past 20 years. So when they did that to me and did that to my guys, see there’s a lot of people man that have this racist energy towards latinos. Listen I treat people that work with me and for me with the upmost respect and they don’t work for me they work with me and keep my whole world and family afloat.” He went on to explain how he feels like the employee’s treated his construction workers unfair because they were latino with an American Express card.
As we previously reported, the incident went down on February 11th when Tyrese went to a Home Depot location where he was worried that his amount of fame would be a distraction so she chose to go to the car while his construction workers pay for the items. But unfortunately Tyrese had to go back into the store after the cashier refused to complete his construction workers transaction and didn’t give them a reason. The cashier “gave no reasonable explanation other than repeating store policy and demanded to see a form of identification,” according to the suit.
Now Tyrese is seeking for $1 million! The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit also claims “negligent hiring, supervision and retention,” according to the news outlet. The ‘Fast And Furious’ star’s construction workers, Eric Mora and Manual Hernandez, also are plaintiffs in the suit, which seeks more than $1 million in compensatory damages. Tyrese is also seeking punitive damages.
Tyrese, “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,” the suit states. “The company needs to understand that there are consequences for discriminatory mistreatment and consumer racial profiling.”
Gibson and the other plaintiffs 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 suit states.