Wall-Mart employee threatened me with physical violence. Can I sue them?

[scottsdale]

I went to a 24 hour wall-mart for some groceries at 5:45AM this morning, and they were finishing up their night stocking of their merchandise and food. This wall-mart does a lot of re-stocking at night and the employees block off most of the food shelf lanes very well so you can't walk through unless they get up and come make a hole for you. If you try to get their attention, they just pretend they don't speak English and ignore you, or speak to each other in their language. This morning was no exception, and when I tried to get through an area that was blocked off to get some butter, one of the three employees wouldn't move, I asked him three times and he just ignored me. At that point I turned around to leave to find a manager and he moved.

I went to get some butter and muttered under my breath that I couldn't get my shopping done, and he began to curse racial epithets and threatened me with physical violence. He became very intimidating and came up to my face and wanted me to fight. This went on for a good three minutes until an American that worked for wall-mart came up to help me as I walked away (I'm 67 years old and he was 25). One of his countrymen spoke to him in their (Arabic?) language, but he kept on trying to intimidate me into a fight. I yelled at him to get away from me, that's all I ever did.

The manager probably fired him because the employee tried to walk up to me to fight me when I was off 40 feet away talking to the manager, but the other guys stopped him and took him to the back room with the general manager. I am sure that his friends will take his side because they're not Americans and they were speaking to each other in another language trying to sort out their story as I waited 20 feet away for a manager.

I am disgusted with wall-mart, and I wonder if I can sue them. The manager didn't come back or try to talk to me or get my phone number, nothing. I called the 800 number and got a couple of uneducated people on the phone that promised someone would get back to me.


Do I have any recourse or legal rights?

 

[irish223]

I went to a 24 hour wall-mart for some groceries at 5:45AM this morning, and they were finishing up their night stocking of their merchandise and food. This wall-mart does a lot of re-stocking at night and the employees block off most of the food shelf lanes very well so you can't walk through unless they get up and come make a hole for you. If you try to get their attention, they just pretend they don't speak English and ignore you, or speak to each other in their language. This morning was no exception, and when I tried to get through an area that was blocked off to get some butter, one of the three employees wouldn't move, I asked him three times and he just ignored me. At that point I turned around to leave to find a manager and he moved.

I went to get some butter and muttered under my breath that I couldn't get my shopping done, and he began to curse racial epithets and threatened me with physical violence. He became very intimidating and came up to my face and wanted me to fight. This went on for a good three minutes until an American that worked for wall-mart came up to help me as I walked away (I'm 67 years old and he was 25). One of his countrymen spoke to him in their (Arabic?) language, but he kept on trying to intimidate me into a fight. I yelled at him to get away from me, that's all I ever did.

The manager probably fired him because the employee tried to walk up to me to fight me when I was off 40 feet away talking to the manager, but the other guys stopped him and took him to the back room with the general manager. I am sure that his friends will take his side because they're not Americans and they were speaking to each other in another language trying to sort out their story as I waited 20 feet away for a manager.

I am disgusted with wall-mart, and I wonder if I can sue them. The manager didn't come back or try to talk to me or get my phone number, nothing. I called the 800 number and got a couple of uneducated people on the phone that promised someone would get back to me.


Do I have any recourse or legal rights?

You have the right to stop shopping at Walmart. There's nothing in your post to suggest that you have any reason to sue.

Just curious, how do you know which employees are American and which aren't? We have many bilingual citizens in this country. How can you tell which are/aren't Americans???

 

[army judge]

Maybe you should have called the police?



Yeah, you can sue. You don't have a case.

I went to a 24 hour wall-mart for some groceries at 5:45AM this morning, and they were finishing up their night stocking of their merchandise and food. This wall-mart does a lot of re-stocking at night and the employees block off most of the food shelf lanes very well so you can't walk through unless they get up and come make a hole for you. If you try to get their attention, they just pretend they don't speak English and ignore you, or speak to each other in their language. This morning was no exception, and when I tried to get through an area that was blocked off to get some butter, one of the three employees wouldn't move, I asked him three times and he just ignored me. At that point I turned around to leave to find a manager and he moved.

I went to get some butter and muttered under my breath that I couldn't get my shopping done, and he began to curse racial epithets and threatened me with physical violence. He became very intimidating and came up to my face and wanted me to fight. This went on for a good three minutes until an American that worked for wall-mart came up to help me as I walked away (I'm 67 years old and he was 25). One of his countrymen spoke to him in their (Arabic?) language, but he kept on trying to intimidate me into a fight. I yelled at him to get away from me, that's all I ever did.

The manager probably fired him because the employee tried to walk up to me to fight me when I was off 40 feet away talking to the manager, but the other guys stopped him and took him to the back room with the general manager. I am sure that his friends will take his side because they're not Americans and they were speaking to each other in another language trying to sort out their story as I waited 20 feet away for a manager.

I am disgusted with wall-mart, and I wonder if I can sue them. The manager didn't come back or try to talk to me or get my phone number, nothing. I called the 800 number and got a couple of uneducated people on the phone that promised someone would get back to me.


Do I have any recourse or legal rights?

 

[mightymoose]

Your best action here is to follow-up with Wal-Mart. Go back to the store and meet with a Human Resources representative. Ask if they have a form that you can submit to make a formal complaint. Phone calls won't get you anywhere. You can also write a couple letters to the powers that be... they won't care too much, but might offer you something to try to ease the inconvenience of it all.
If you truly felt your personal safety was at risk I would expect that you would have attempted to leave rather than stand there. You had good reason to be upset, but it does not sound as if the threat was to a level that it would become criminal. You have no damages. Nothing to sue for. Any action you take would only result in disciplinary action on the employee, if even that.