Posted on 04/16/2014 3:16:17 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Former customer Marie Bridgemahon says manager ejected her from Co-op City Pathmark because of the color of her skin. Another customer launched a racist rant against her moments before she was kicked out . Bridgemahon is now suing Pathmark.
A Co-op City Pathmark manager added insult to injury by escorting a customer out of the store following a racially charged slur from another patron, a new lawsuit charges.
Marie Bridgemahon and her daughter, both of whom are black, were forced to leave the Bartow Ave. grocery store in 2011 following an incident in which a white woman called her a “black b---h,” according to the suit, filed Monday.
But when a shocked Bridgemahon asked if the color of her skin was the reason for being singled out, the manager said “Yes, I’m putting you out because you’re black,” and later flicked ashes from a lit cigaratte at her while outside.
“I’m depressed. I’m sad every time I think about it,” said Bridgemahon, 56, a retired airline employee. “I can’t believe this happened. It’s like a nightmare.”
The abuse began Aug. 6 2011 when Bridgemahon and daughter Sade, then 24, approached another patron at a checkout line and asked if the unidentified woman was waiting.
The woman then inexplicably unleashed a tirade of racial slurs, calling Bridgemahon a “black b---h,” among other put-downs, papers filed in Bronx Supreme Court claim.
But when manager Daniel Rodgers and two stock workers approached, the racist customer continued her tirade.
Neither Rodgers, nor the stock workers said a word to the white woman who continued her racist rant, court papers state. Instead, they focused on Bridgemahon, and Rodgers told her to get out, “because she is black.” Rodgers then followed she and her daughter out of the grocery store.
I can't believe this happened. It's like a nightmare
Bridgemahon said she complained to a Pathmark district manager, who told her he was aware of the racist incident but insisted it was merely a joke. The district manager said it was against Pathmark’s policy to eject customers.
The suit seeks unspecified damages, and names Rodgers as a defendant. Rodgers could not be reached for comment.
Bridgemahon says she’d shopped at that Pathmark for years, but now has flashbacks when she returns to a supermarket.
“I’m afraid I’ll be thrown out because of the color of my skin,” said Bridgemahon, who lives in Northeast Bronx. “It hurts. It’s 2014 and I can’t get over it.”
Pathmark operates dozens of stores in the tristate area, including four in the Bronx. Neither Pathmark, nor its parent company, the Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, returned several calls and emails seeking comment Tuesday.
“She was embarrassed, humiliated, shocked that something like this could happen in New York City in 2011,” said Bridgemahon’s lawyer, Steven Seltzer, who added that his client sought counseling shortly after the episode. “When she thinks about the incident — when she has to deal with it — it becomes unpleasant and traumatic for her.”
Customers at the Co-op City Pathmark Tuesday said they were disgusted by the alleged incident. 70, a retired pharmaceutical worker from Fordham, said."I thought Pathmark was beyond overt racism. I guess things haven't changed that much."
His response to her question was obviously sarcastic...if said at all...there had to be behavior that preceded this... I am thinking disorderly, judging from the female employee response...
It's over the top but it's getting to the point where this type of scenario is oddly believable.
Too many race cards; too many jokers. I mean if people are called racist and punished for any imagined slights, might as well let loose and push every one of this hothead's buttons. Nothing to lose. After all, this event may have never actually happened, but here come the lawyers and race pimps anyway.
Anyone who runs a retail store these days almost has to have store cameras recording every square inch of floor space, and often as not, they record audio as well.
Wal-Mart has turned this into an art form, since they are sued very frequently with usually fake slip-and-falls. And, unlike some, Wal-Mart has a strong policy that it will contest all lawsuits. No settlements, ever. So they also have a company of lawyers on standby.
Most of the time, they show the court the game films, and the case is immediately dismissed, with prejudice.
I recommend you check the calibration on your sarcasm detector.
Riiiiiiiiiiiight.................
The last ‘graf is a classic example of what’s happened to reporting these days. They go to the store, find some senior customer, give him a one-sided version of the incident, then interview him regarding his reaction. He wasn’t there, doesn’t really know what happened, only has their version of the story, and somehow his comment is news. AAARRGH!!
...and apparently some of the victims are so slow on the uptake that it takes them three years to realize they’ve been victimized.
Why can women still not eat in muslim restaurants....?
*Shrug* A while back I was called a “white b-—h” by a black woman. Somehow I manage to get out of bed every day.
Well, based on this I think we can all agree white people must go.
/s (duh..)
This afternoon I got off the #6 subway at 116th and Lex and proceeded north. At 117th St a black guy muttered “white trash” at me. You know what I thought? I thought, “I’m worse than trash, I’m a sinner, but God accepts me in Christ Jesus. Therefore, NP”.
Probably went down like this: black lady and white lady get into some argument in the store. Worker decides to eject the black lady because for whatever reason he/she decided the black lady was more at fault. Black lady said "oh! You are just throwing me out cuz I'm black! " Worker sarcastically says "yeah, yeah, I'm throwing you out cuz you're black (whatever)"
so that makes 4
Agreed. And what would happen if a white person went grocery shopping in the hood? I think we can figure that one out...
yeah bull hockey
I can actually imagine him saying exactly that.
Suppose she actually was ranting at the woman in front of her, not just asking if she was waiting. Eventually, the woman gets upset and tells her to shut up, and the black woman calls her racist names, and the white woman responds.
The manager realizes the black woman is the one causing the problem, and asks her to leave.
Then, the black woman shouts at him, and at some point says “you’re just throwing me out because I am black, aren’t you”.
So he responds “Right, I’m throwing you out because you are black”. In other words, a sarcastic response to a woman who knew exactly why she was being thrown out.
This is of course all speculation. Maybe he was a racist, and maybe the other customer was racist.
I note that there is no quotes from other customers who were there at the time, and also no quotes from the white woman.
This is supposed to have ocurred in August 2011 and they filed the suit this week? Does not pass the smell test.
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