Tyrese Gibson is suing The Home Depot over allegations the home improvement retailer racially profiled him.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by the actor/musician, 44, and two men described as associates who “regularly provide construction services” to him.
The suit, which was obtained by People, claims that Gibson, Eric Mora and Manuel Hernandez “experienced outrageous discriminatory mistreatment and consumer racial profiling” while visiting the company’s West Hills, Calif. location in February.
The suit claims that all three were finishing up their shopping when fans began noticing that the “Fast & Furious” franchise star was in the store, so he gave his associates his credit card to pay for the items and went to go wait in his car.
Gibson allegedly told the cashier that he gave Mora and Hernandez permission to use his card.
However, the cashier allegedly “refused to complete the purchase transaction,” even after the “Transformers” actor returned to the store.
“The cashier gave no reasonable explanation other than repeating ‘store policy’ and demanded to see a form of identification,” the suit claims.
“The manager refused to speak with Gibson in person. It was only after significant heated discussion with the cashier that Gibson was finally able to complete the transaction.”
The suit goes on to allege that the cashier and other Home Depot employees “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.”
During the encounter, part of which was filmed, Gibson could be heard telling the cashier, “I understand policy, but you know you’re being extra right now.”
Later on in the clip, the “Sweet Lady” singer explained to the cashier and other staffers, “My problem with what just happened is 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?”
Gibson, Mora and Hernandez are seeking over $1 million in damages — to reflect the amount the Hollywood star claims he’s spent at Home Depot locations over his lifetime — in addition to punitive damages and “a declaratory judgment declaring that” the company’s actions violated California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act.
“Gibson, Mora and Hernandez are taking a stand against The Home Depot to hold it accountable,” the suit reads. “The company needs to understand that there are consequences for discriminatory mistreatment and consumer racial profiling.”
The suit further alleges that The Home Depot “has refused to take any responsibility” for the incident and has instead “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.”
When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for The Home Depot told Pvnew in a statement, “Diversity and respect for all people are core to who we are, and we do not tolerate discrimination in any form.”
“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,” the statement continued. “We will continue to do so.”
