Posted on 04/15/2017 11:39:22 AM PDT by nickcarraway
An African-American woman filed a civil rights lawsuit Monday, April 10, against Albertsons and its parent company, Safeway, alleging that its managers took no steps to correct or apologize for the actions of a checkout clerk at an Irvine store who incorrectly assumed the woman was on food stamps.
Jenna Watkinson, a spokeswoman for Safeway, said company officials have not seen the lawsuit and “do not comment on pending litigation.”
“However, any time we interact with a customer, our goal is to ensure that they are treated with the utmost respect and courtesy,” she said Wednesday.
Deirdre Harris, 42, who filed the lawsuit, said the incident occurred Jan. 27 at the Albertsons at Alton Avenue and Culver Street. Harris said she was trying to pull out a debit card from her phone case to pay for the items, when the checkout clerk asked her if she wanted to use her EBT card.
“What exactly did you say?” Harris asked the clerk.
The clerk repeated her question and asked if she wanted to use food stamps.
“I felt completely demoralized,” said Harris, an Orange County native who grew up in Huntington Beach, works as a fashion brand consultant, and has lived in Irvine for 22 years. “For me, it was a very clear reminder — a painful reminder — that we do not live in a post-racial era.”
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Should we assume then that all wally world shoppers can sue walmart for demanding to see your receipt and shuffling through your bags in order for you to leave the store ? Profiling all their shoppers as criminals I would think is way over par to this gals hurt feelers that a clerk asks her if she wants to use a particular payment method.
Maybe the clerk was tired, harassed, was having a bad day and had seen a lot of EBT cards in her line of work. Not every working person who makes a small error needs a lecture, you know.
I work for this company and Albertsons is now the parent company of Von’s and Safeway stores!!!
My response to the Cashier, I wish.
It would save me a fortune. LOL
Just a little joke...
The Cashier make a silly off hand remark and next thing you know, “United Airlines”.
Obviously worse than anything the Viet Cong ever did.
This is the pettiest crap I’ve encountered in ages.
If you lived in the 19th Century and were low income, the only alternative was private charity and the few public pension programs didn’t pay enough.
Like it or not - the social safety net is far better today than it was back then.
I keep thinking of Noah Wyle’s southern grandfather who committed suicide because he couldn’t raise money to pay his life insurance premium.
No one has to go to that extreme today.
People who complain about being offended like this woman does should be grateful they can manage to live responsibly.
And that’s not grounds to sue a grocery store in my book.
It’s an annoyance I confess. One day I’d like to put one small paid item in my pocket just to see if the greeter/inspector says oh, we charged too much! At which point I’d smile and say no, just seeing how honest you folks are. How does it feel?
It’s an annoyance I confess. One day I’d like to put one small paid item in my pocket just to see if the greeter/inspector says oh, we charged too much! At which point I’d smile and say no, just seeing how honest you folks are. How does it feel?
Not sure it outdoes gospel outreaches. Can you quantify your claim with data?
I think she had reason to complain. Sue, no. But a letter to the newspapers would be fitting.
snowwww....flakessss....so easily offended..
I thought Cerberus bought Albertsons...
Watch out lest you find your own self descending from a cloud.
Otherwise, if I understand the referenced situation correctly, the states have never amended the Constitution to expressly protect citizens in the described context as evidenced by the following supporting excerpt.
"State inspection laws, health laws, and laws for regulating the internal commerce of a State, and those which respect turnpike roads, ferries, &c. are not within the power granted to Congress [emphases added]." -Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
In fact, the Supreme Court had clarified in United States v. Cruikshank that constitutional protections protect citizens only from actions of state and federal governments, not from actions by private citizens.
United States v. Cruikshank
So with all due respect to Ms Watkinson, unless the clerk broke some state law, this is not a federal civil rights issue imo.
Corrections, insights welcome.
I didn't...but I wanted to.
——Now, she’s gonna be rich.——
I sort of doubt it...in the age of out of control litigation, most corporates now fight rather than pay out huge sums...
They may offer her an apology and a small offer to fix her hurt feelings...
People and lawyers realize there is money to be made this crap will go out of control fast...
Corporate figured this out a while ago...
Maybe the offended needs to submit to a whiz quiz? Which would literally pi$$ her off...
Maybe it’s the way she dressed, as a “fashion brand consultant”, which misled the clerk to think she might use an EBT card.
‘African-American’, huh... When’s the last time you were in Africa?
I’d be royally pissed off if I were asked that, but to sue? I doubt I would go through the trouble. I think this woman has every right to sue. What a nasty checkout person. Hopefully they lost their job at the least.
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