Home Depot

Dear Home Depot Headquarters,

I am writing to report a disturbing incident that occurred at your Passaic, NJ store #0950 on May 6th. As an African American business owner, along with my Hispanic electrical contractor, we were targeted, harassed, and discriminated against by a self-checkout area employee. While in the process of checking out, the employee approached us and demanded to see our receipt before we left, not just once, but twice. When I asked why, he responded, "I am doing my job," and he stood tall, waiting for us to finish, while customers on both sides of the aisle looked on. We were the only minorities in the area, and I immediately felt targeted, uncomfortable and embarrassed.

This treatment made us feel uncomfortable and embarrassed, and I reported the incident to the manager, Daniel. I suggested that the company use this example to train client-facing employees so that incidents like this do not reoccur. However, the manager justified the employee's behavior and suggested that they check everyone's receipts to ensure that customers get what they came for. This level of service is provided by the floor attendants and not at checkout.

After contacting the store on May 7th and speaking with Caris, who promised to call me back by the end of the day on Monday, I received no response. When I called again on Wednesday and requested to speak to Caris, the person who answered the phone was hesitant and hung up when they saw my caller ID. Finally, when I spoke to Daniel, he informed me that the employee had been addressed and the situation rectified, but he failed to provide any information on the resolution.

I am deeply disappointed in how this situation was handled. As a 50-year-old female minority, I have never experienced this kind of discrimination and no one should be made to feel the way I did that day. This kind of behavior is unacceptable, and I request that immediate action be taken to address this employee and prevent such incidents from happening in the future. If necessary, I will be forced to take legal action and involve the media.

I expect a prompt response from your company on how this matter will be addressed. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Carla Percy Otte

carla. m. [protected]@gmail.com