Home Depot finished a complete sweep in its defense of a racial profiling lawsuit brought by “Fast & Furious” franchise star Tyrese Gibson and two other plaintiffs when a judge dismissed claims that a third and final defendant brought against the home improvement store chain.
The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleged civil rights violations and negligent hiring, supervision and retention. Two of the 46-year-old R&B singer/actor’s construction workers, Eric Mora and Manual Hernandez, also were plaintiffs in the suit, which sought more than $1 million in compensatory damages, the amount Gibson maintained he spent over time at Home Depot.
Gibson also sought punitive damages.
However, Gibson and Hernandez dropped out as plaintiffs in January, and on Friday, Judge Upinder Kalra dismissed Mora’s claims. Mora was in court for the hearing and acted as his own attorney while using the assistance of a Spanish-language interpreter.
During the litigation, Gibson was fined $250 for his failure to appear for a hearing last October.
According to the suit, Gibson, “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.”
Gibson and his construction workers went to the Victory Boulevard store on Feb. 11, 2023, when Gibson, worried his fame could cause a distraction, had Mora and Hernandez pay for the items the three selected with his credit card while he went to his car, the suit stated. However, Gibson returned to the store when the cashier declined to complete the transaction, according to the suit.
The cashier “gave no reasonable explanation other than repeating store policy and demanded to see a form of identification,” according to the suit brought in August 2023.
The manager refused to speak with Gibson and the transaction was completed only after a heated discussion with the cashier, according to the suit, which alleges that the actions of the cashier and manager were racially motivated.
But according to the Home Depot attorneys’ court papers, Mora was a bystander and “never even attempted to make a purchase, much less present any form of payment, either his own or someone else’s. Thus, Mr. Mora cannot show he was denied any services on the basis of race and/or national origin.”
Hernandez tried to make a purchase with Gibson’s credit card of more than $3,000 and the cashier correctly declined to go forward until she saw proper identification from the actor, and when that happened after Gibson returned inside the store she completed the payment, the Home Depot attorneys further stated in their pleadings.