A man shopping while Black is getting paid after Walmart discriminated against him. Walmart was ordered to pay the Portland area man $4.4M for summoning police on false charges. Damages was awarded after the man said in a lawsuit that a theft prevention employee racially profiled him for “shopping while Black” and tried to have him jailed. Walmart could appeal the verdict or offer a settlement in exchange for not appealing.
Michael Mangum’s attorney, Greg Kafoury, said he believes Friday’s verdict is the largest sum awarded by a jury in a racial discrimination case in Oregon history. The company knew the theft prevention worker had a history of hyperbole but failed to take any action. The litigation was a landmark test of a recently passed state law that allows lawsuits against anyone who improperly calls law enforcement with the intent to discriminate or humiliate another person or to unlawfully ban them from property.
Michael said he felt “disrespected and embarrassed” after a worker at the Wood Village Walmart began watching him, then summoned police and falsely claimed Mangum had threatened to smack him in the face.
Michael stopped by the Wood Village store to pick up a $2 light bulb for his refrigerator about 7:45 p.m. on March 26, 2020, the Fairview resident said he noticed an employee in the same aisle. The theft prevention employee, identified in court papers as 32-year-old Joseph K. Williams, asked Mangum why he was staring at him.
Williams called Multnomah County sheriff’s deputies to the scene and claimed Mangum had threatened to assault him. Williams no longer works at the store, Kafoury said.
Mangum is a well-known figure in local violence prevention circles. He works with the Portland area’s housing authority, at Rosa Parks Elementary in North Portland, high-risk kids for Home Forward, and has a second job with the city of Gresham running a night gym to keep youths from joining gangs.
