Racial Profiling Lawsuit Claims Walmart Accused Black Man Of Stealing Before Admitting He Didn’t

Source: Jeff Greenberg / Getty

R yan Redditt, a Black resident of Oregon, alleged he was threatened by two white employees at Walmart within minutes of buying a vacuum, according to a lawsuit obtained by The Miami Herald.

Reddit, while departing from a self-checkout station at Walmart in Tigard, Oregon, remained unaware that a threat had been aimed at him within the store premises, as alleged in the lawsuit filed on May 10. He was shocked when a white female employee suddenly approached him, threatening to call the police.

“You’re going to jail, the police will be called!” the Walmart staffer allegedly shouted during the July 11, 2023, incident.

Then, a white Walmart security guard allegedly accused Redditt of stealing.

“Why you gotta steal?” he shouted, the lawsuit claimed.

As he walked to his vehicle, the two white staffers followed Redditt to his car and warned him that he was “going to jail.”

A third person, described as a white male, joined in on allegedly harassing Redditt with the two Walmart employees. It’s unclear if the third suspect was a worker at the store.

According to the complaint, the third suspect recorded the entire exchange and berated the Black Oregon resident, stating, “I’m so tired of you. We will find you and call the police. We will put this on social media so everyone knows who you are.”

Security footage and transaction records confirmed Ryan Redditt did not steal.

Redditt filed a complaint with Walmart corporate and security footage confirmed he did not steal the vacuum he purchased at the store. But it reportedly took months for the company to acknowledge their error.

According to Oregon Live , it wasn’t until Redditt enlisted the services of Portland lawyer Noah Horst that he discovered, through his legal representation, that Walmart had notified Tigard police on September 26 about their mistake. They confirmed that Redditt had indeed paid for the vacuum, a fact corroborated by transaction records and surveillance footage from the store.

The lawsuit alleged that an asset protection investigator from the store dialed 911, stating that Redditt had stolen the vacuum because “he went through no points of sale” and allegedly did not stop “anywhere” to pay for his item.

The accusations caused Redditt months of anxiety, fearing that police might pull him over unexpectedly and arrest him. He also fretted about the possibility that the individual who photographed and filmed him might not have been a store employee but rather a vigilante who would enlist the help of others on social media to track him down.

“I was driving around with a scarlet letter on myself, so to speak,” Reddit added. “I could have had an unwelcomed or unwanted interaction with the police. …It’s really difficult to quantify the mental anguish of being put in this situation.”

Now, Redditt is seeking damages worth $475,000 from Walmart and the two white employees named in the suit, alleging he was a victim of discrimination. In an interview with Oregon Live, the 46-year-old said he left the store feeling “incredibly” insulted. As an owner of a local food truck, he argued he would never steal from a place of business.

“I work very, very hard. …It was humiliating to be put in that position.”

Walmart officials did not provide a statement about the ongoing suit, noting that they would respond to the issue “appropriately in Court.”

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