Criminal Accusations at Wal-Mart Provoke Rage and Possible Lawsuit
Reginald Pitts, an African-American executive for GAF, the largest commercial and residential roofing manufacturer, is asking a Wal-Mart store in Brandon, Florida for its report, store surveillance tapes, and interviews with store employees stemming from an incident occurring November 23, 2005. Pitts has retained a lawyer and may pursue legal action against the store that he says engaged in racial discrimination and called the police who arrived and grabbed him without any provocation or reason.
Pitts, a human resources manager for GAF, had gone to Wal-Mart to buy $13,600 worth of gift cards for the company’s employees as part of their holiday incentives. Pitts called ahead and says he spoke with a manager in order to have the 520 gift cards ready to be picked up when he arrived. The manager told him the cards would be ready in 30 minutes.
When Pitts got to the store he presented the clerk with a company check, hid driver’s license, his business card, and phone numbers to the bank that handled GAF’s account.
After about two hours of waiting to hear back from store employees regarding the purchase, Pitts asked for the check back and had planned on leaving. Pitts said that a group of managers were talking about the potential purchase for the two hours and had refused giving him his check back.
It was then that two Hillsborough Country sheriff’s deputies approached Pitts, one of them grabbing the man on the arm. The police detained Pitts and apparently verbally abused him as well, threatening him with a felony criminal charge.
After discovering the situation, the police let Pitts go. Pitts made a complaint at his company and GAF has stopped spending their holiday gift card money, about $50,000 a year, on Wal-Mart because of the incident. GAF has also lodged a complaint against Wal-Mart.
Pitts, a human resources manager for GAF, had gone to Wal-Mart to buy $13,600 worth of gift cards for the company’s employees as part of their holiday incentives. Pitts called ahead and says he spoke with a manager in order to have the 520 gift cards ready to be picked up when he arrived. The manager told him the cards would be ready in 30 minutes.
When Pitts got to the store he presented the clerk with a company check, hid driver’s license, his business card, and phone numbers to the bank that handled GAF’s account.
After about two hours of waiting to hear back from store employees regarding the purchase, Pitts asked for the check back and had planned on leaving. Pitts said that a group of managers were talking about the potential purchase for the two hours and had refused giving him his check back.
It was then that two Hillsborough Country sheriff’s deputies approached Pitts, one of them grabbing the man on the arm. The police detained Pitts and apparently verbally abused him as well, threatening him with a felony criminal charge.
After discovering the situation, the police let Pitts go. Pitts made a complaint at his company and GAF has stopped spending their holiday gift card money, about $50,000 a year, on Wal-Mart because of the incident. GAF has also lodged a complaint against Wal-Mart.
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