Black Florida family sues Walmart after being falsely accused of shoplifting because security guards refused to check receipts for product purchases

The Brewster family had just left church after they entered a Walmart in Florida to replace clothes they’d purchased for their daughter the day prior to this that were too small for her.

The Black family of five were falsely accused of trying to steal items they wanted to exchange and were directed to a security room with television monitors, where they were confronted by security guards and sheriff’s deputies.

Fortunately, Jacksonville sheriff’s deputies determined that the family had been falsely accused and eventually released them.

But it wasn’t until husband and wife Raymond and Nekeeya Brewster, together with their three daughters, ages 12, 7 and 1, were forced to sit on a bench while security guards reviewed surveillance footage to show cops alleged evidence that the family was trying to steal merchandise. .

But there was no evidence.

“You can go. If you would like to meet me in the parking lot, I will write you a report on the entire incident,” the deputy told the family when he realized they’d been falsely accused. lawsuit filed last month that cites several past incidents during which Walmart employees racially profiled Black customers.

“The Brewster family does not stand alone,” states the lawsuit filed Nov. 26 by Jacksonville attorney Rory Diamond.

“Walmart repeatedly, systemically and disproportionately discriminates against Black customers. Specifically, Walmart security and related staff profile black customers who’ve done nothing flawed, based on little or no evidence apart from their race.

Other incidents mentioned within the lawsuit include a 2020 incident during which a Black man from Oregon named Michael Mangum received greater than $4 million following a jury trial in 2022; and a 2020 incident during which two Black men stopped at a Texas Walmart attempted to return a television that had been resolved last yr for an undisclosed amount.

Another incident not mentioned within the lawsuit occurred at an Arkansas Walmart in 2021, where a Black man named Roderick Johnson sued the Walmart, claiming he was detained under the “false pretense of shoplifting,” and the case stays pending. Johnson is demanding $100 million or unlimited shopping at Walmart for the remaining of his life.

“The Brewsters are focused on changing Walmart’s practice of safety profiling Black customers and will fairly and appropriately protect the interests of members of the Proposed Class,” the recent lawsuit states.

Stopping

On Saturday, October 13, the Brewster family walked into the Walmart on City Square Drive in Jacksonville and purchased clothes for one of their daughters.

However, after they returned home, they realized that the garments were too small for their teenage daughter, in order that they planned to replace the items the subsequent day. On Sunday, the family went to church after which drove to Walmart to make an exchange.

Hoping to avoid security issues, Nekeeya put her clothes and receipt in a Walmart bag and zipped it up.

The family then entered the shop, and Nekeeya put her bag within the cart and went to the kids’s section, where she selected the identical clothes in a bigger size. Her husband went to one other part of the shop.

Nekeeya then went to the shopper service counter to make an exchange, which included five items of clothing and one other five items in a bigger size. That’s when she untied her bag and took out the garments she wanted to exchange together with the receipt for those items.

During this process, the shopper service representative apparently received a call from security guards, prompting him to put the exchange on hold. Raymond joined his wife on the shopper service line, which had grown longer with customers due to delays.

About 10 minutes later, a plainclothes security guard named Stephen George Mullen approached the family and accused them of stealing.

“Ma’am, we saw you putting something in your bag,” he announced loudly, drawing stares from other customers before repeating the identical accusation.

“No, you didn’t see anything in my bag. What are you talking about?” Nekeeya replied.

“Ma’am, please put these pants in your bag,” Mullen continued.

“Sir, I have a receipt that shows we bought these clothes on Saturday,” Nekeeya replied, trying to hand Mullen the receipt from the day prior to this. “You can match the UPC to the barcode on your pants, right?”

However, according to the lawsuit, Mullen had no real interest in checking the receipt.

“No, we can’t do that,” Mullen informed her, then called one other security guard on a walkie-talkie.

“They’re telling us they don’t have us on camera,” Mullen told the second security guard, identified as Willie Frank McFayden Jr.

“Yes, I saw you,” McFayden said.

“No, no,” Nekeeya replied, however the guards still refused to check the bill.

Instead, the 2 left and ordered the family to stay on the counter, asking them to step aside so other customers could talk to employees. Twenty minutes later, Mullen returned and told the family to “come with me.”

The family gathered their belongings and followed Mullen into the center of the shop, where they were greeted by two Jacksonville sheriff’s deputies. They then ordered the family to follow them to a security room near the front of the shop.

The family was ordered to sit on a bench and one of the deputies told them they were there to “keep the peace.”

“We didn’t steal anything,” Nekeeya told the deputy. “I’m not sure why they think we did that. We have a receipt for everything we buy.”

And that is when deputies realized the security guards had lied to them.

“Do they have a receipt?” – one of the deputies asked the guards. “That’s not the information you gave us, that’s not what you see on the body camera.”

“We believe we saw her putting items into the bag,” Mullens explained.

“That’s not the information you gave us,” the second deputy said. “That’s not what you see on the body camera.”

Security guards began looking through video footage to show deputies the portion of Nekeeya putting items right into a bag, but they found nothing.

“You can’t show us anything that even looks like she was putting something in a bag,” the primary deputy told security guards. – You didn’t see them put anything within the bag.

After a moment, McFayden admitted “no.” They have not seen anything like this. Deputies then told the family they were good to go.

“The Brewster family has been subjected to preventive safety measures, falsely imprisoned, unlawfully detained, defamed, discriminated against in violation of their civil rights and humiliated,” reads the lawsuit, which accuses Walmart of civil rights violations, false imprisonment, libel and slander, and willful misconduct. emotional.