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Wal-Mart fires manager in alleged discrimination

The Brandon store's investigation found a store manager violated procedures, but it found no evidence of racial discrimination.

By MARK ALBRIGHT
Published December 12, 2005

BRANDON - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has fired the manager of a supercenter here for "poor judgment" after he called sheriff's deputies to apprehend a black manager of a roofing supplies business whose $13,600 company check could not be verified.

The decision came after a two-week internal investigation concluded the store manager violated the discount store giant's procedures but found no evidence of racial discrimination.

The store manager, Mark Cornett, could not be reached for comment at his home. Company officials said another unnamed member of the management team at the 11110 Causeway Blvd. store also will be disciplined, but declined to say more.

All Wal-Mart store management in the Tampa area will get racial sensitivity training next month, although it had been previously scheduled.

Reginald Pitts, 34-year-old human resources manager for GAF Materials Corp., suspects he was singled out for extra scrutiny because he is an African-American who tried to buy 520 gift cards for employees on Nov. 23. But he is still waiting for Wal-Mart to fully explain why he was threatened with arrest after Wal-Mart said it could not verify his employer's $13,600 check.

Pitts' case has generated a national firestorm of bad publicity for the retail giant at a time when there are some signs it is losing a high-stakes PR war with its army of critics. The treatment Pitts encountered, meantime, resonated with many minority customers who claim they are too often treated like prospective thieves by retailers such as Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has a zero tolerance policy for racial discrimination and racial profiling. It called the Brandon firing evidence of how seriously it takes complaints.

"The store manager made a bad decision based on poor judgment," said Sarah Clark, Wal-Mart spokeswoman. "We would hope all of our customeres feel they are being treated equally or prompt action will be taken."

Pitts, however, is still weighing whether to file a lawsuit.

"Wal-Mart still has to answer questions about how I was treated," he said. "I think I am in a position to help insure this never happens to anyone else."

For years a white administrative assistant has been buying gift cards at the same Wal-Mart as incentives for the 125-employee Tampa warehouse of GAF, the nation's largest roofing materials maker. The transactions went through like clock work. This holiday season, however, she was on vacation, so Pitts did the job himself. He called Wal-Mart to determine what he needed. He ordered a $13,600 company check cut for Wal-Mart. The gift cards were not ready when Pitts arrived in khaki slacks and blue dress shirt at the store at 11 a.m. to pay for them. So he went to lunch.

After lunch, the cards were ready, but managers indicated they could not get the GAF check verified. While he waited, standing in the customer service office, two African-American Wal-Mart clerks watching nearby suggested he was singled out for extra scrutiny because he is black. They said some white customers made similar purchases earlier the same day with no delay. After another hour of waiting, Pitts gave up.

Four times he requested the check be returned so he could go to another store. He was denied. Finally, two sheriff's deputies arrived, grabbed his arm and said they were summoned by Wal-Mart over a "forged check" he presented. They justified the rough treatment because, based on Wal-Mart's call for help on a "bad check" case, they thought that they could be dealing with a felon.

Within minutes, deputies determined there was no case and handed back the GAF check. Cornett said "have a great day, sir," and Pitts left. Deputies reported they had completed the case at 2:19 p.m.

Wal-Mart on Monday offered some previously undisclosed details. They said the check approval service the store uses could not access GAF's account. Wal-Mart said GAF's account at Citibank had a privacy block, a rare occurrence for a company check. That's typically seen as a red flag by store managers who know they honor the check only at their own risk. Wal-Mart policy called for such a check to be returned to Pitts with instructions he get his bank and employer to straighten out the block.

"Unanswered is how they made this leap from having an unverified account on their hands to a forgery serious enough to call the sheriff while detaining Mr. Pitts" on what turned out to be bogus pretenses, said Jonathon Ellis, Pitts' attorney.

Civil rights groups that have closely monitored the case said Wal-Mart did the right thing by firing the store manager.

"It's a tiny step in what we see as systemic problems at Wal-Mart," said Joe Beasely, southern regional director for Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition. "They have good policies, but practice is another matter. Too many people in the stores have this attitude that African-Americans are untrustworthy."

"It is a good start," said Curtis Stokes, first vice president of the Hillsborough County NAACP. "This was a blatant example" of racial profiling.

- Mark Albright can be reached at albright@sptimes.com or 727 893-8252.

[Last modified December 12, 2005, 19:19:02]