Walmart has been ordered to pay an Oregon man $4.4 million in punitive damages after a former theft-prevention employee racially profiled him as he was “shopping while Black.”
Michael Mangum, 61, is also set to receive $400,000 in non-economic damages, making the verdict the largest monetary award by a jury in a racial discrimination case in Oregon history, The Oregonian/OregonLive reports.
According to the lawsuit, the employee, Joe Williams, 32, is accused of racially profiling Mangum at the Wood Village Walmart on March 26, 2020. Mangum was shopping for a refrigerator lightbulb when Williams “spied” on him before demanding that he leave. When Mangum refused to exit the store, Williams called the police and falsely claimed that Mangum had smashed him in the face.
“When he said he’s going to call the police, I couldn’t believe it, because I hadn’t done anything,” Mangum told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “The only thing that was going through my mind was, ‘You have the right to be here.’” Read more at www.thegrio.com
