Actor Tyrese Gibson, 44, is reportedly suing the Home Depot for more than $1 million due to an alleged “racial profiling” incident that he claims took place in their West Hills, California, store, a new lawsuit filed on Wednesday says.
According to reports from both People and Fox News 11, the “Fast and Furious” star alleged that he and two men who “regularly provide construction services to Gibson” had “experienced outrageous discriminatory mistreatment and consumer racial profiling” while they were at the home improvement store on February 11.
Gibson and the other two plaintiffs, Eric Mora and Manuel Hernandez, are seeking $1 million in damages — which the actor says is equivalent to the amount of money he’s spent at the store over the years — as well as punitive damages.
It also alleges negligent hiring, supervision and retention at the company.
In response to the claims, a statement for Home Depot told The Post that they “valued” the actor “as a customer.”
“Diversity and respect for all people are core to who we are, and we do not tolerate discrimination in any form,” the statement read. “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.”
However, Gibson and the plaintiffs claimed that the store “has refused to take any responsibility” for what happened and even “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.”
In February, the three men went to the store on Victory Boulevard, the suit states, but Gibson had begun to be recognized by fans, according to the suit.
He decided to have the two other men pay for the items with his credit card while he went to the car, which he claims he told the cashier.
But the cashier declined to complete the transaction, so Gibson came back inside to try to smooth things over.
Things only got worse from there, as the suit claims that the cashier “gave no reasonable explanation other than repeating store policy and demanded to see a form of identification” and said that the manager refused to speak to the actor.
“It was only after significant heated discussion with the cashier that Gibson was finally able to complete the transaction,” the lawsuit alleges.
Gibson, as well as the two plaintiffs, believe that the incident and the actions of the cashier were racially motivated.
The lawsuit claimed that the employees at the Home Depot store “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.”
Because of that, the three have “suffered shame, humiliation and mental suffering,” the suit claims.
A video clip that shows the alleged incident, as well as Gibson on a FaceTime with the cashier after he left the store, was also uploaded to YouTube, according to People.
“So, my problem with what happened, is that I’ve been living three blocks from here for 10 years, and if this is a policy … why are you the first person to stop my team and my ability to come in here when I’ve been coming to this particular Home Depot for 10 years?” he can be heard saying to the cashier.
The Post reached out to representatives of Gibson for comment.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
