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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND
ALEXIS GUERRERO, )
Plaintiff )
v. ) 25-cv-0526
OLLIE’S BARGAIN )
OUTLET, INC., )
Defendant )
Complaint
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4. Plaintiff Alexis Guerrero (“Guerrero”) is a Black man, born in the Dominican Republic.
5. Defendant Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Inc. (“Ollie’s”) is a chain of nursery-and-gardening stores; one store is located in Salisbury, Maryland.
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8. In March 2020, Guerrero and his sister were shopping for flowerpots in the outdoor section of the Ollie’s in Salisbury, MD, where Guerrero resides.
9. Guerrero located one pot of interest. He and his sister then searched for a second, matching pot.
10. As they searched, an Ollie’s employee named Richard Murray, a white man, emerged with a pallet of pots. Rather than unpacking the pallet, Murray turned away.
11. Guerrero approached the pallet, locating a matching pot. He called to his sister “here’s another one.”
12. Guerrero sought to remove the pot from the pallet by taking off the yellow plastic string wrapped around it.
13. Rather than asking if Guerrero needed assistance, Murray displayed a knife with a seven-inch blade. He began jabbing the knife towards Guerrero, yelling “Hey you, you can’t touch that! Move over there!”
14. Fearful of the knife, Guerrero moved away from the pots.
15. Murray stared at Guerrero, moved towards the pots, and aggressively cut the yellow plastic strings on the pots.
16. Guerrero said nothing; he waited as Murray unwrapped the pots so he could retrieve the one he wished to purchase.
17. Murray approached Guerrero, wielded his knife toward Guerrero’s face, and yelled “Get them pots over there, not from here.”
18. Guerrero did not raise his voice. He responded, “You just do your job because you probably had a bad day. My job is to come here and buy a pot.”
19. Murray continued wielding the knife and yelled, “Let me do my job!”
20. Guerrero’s sister walked inside to find the store manager.
21. Murray shouted at Guerrero, “Y’all motherfuckers. I will stab y’all. That’s why this fucking country is the way it is. Go back to where you came from. All of you people are destroying this country.”
22. While waiting for the manager, Murray lunged at him with the knife and yelled, “I will stab you. I have guns and I will shoot you.”
23. Murray picked up a ceramic pot as if to throw it at Guerrero.
24. An Ollie’s employee tried to usher Murray away. Murray continued shouting. “Fuck you. Go back to your own country. You people are killing us.”
25. The store manager arrived and intervened, leading Murray to the back of the store. Another Ollie’s employee consoled Guerrero and his sister.
26. The police arrived about fifteen minutes later, by which point Murray had sped away in his car.
27. Guerrero and his sister left Ollie’s without purchasing any flowerpots.
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Count I: 42 U.S.C. § 1981
28. Plaintiff reiterates and incorporates ¶¶ 4-27 herein.
29. Ollie’s, through its employee, acted out of racial animus and impeded Guerrero’s ability to enter into, or enjoy the befits of, a contractual relationship, including purchasing goods from Ollie’s.
30. Guerrero was a customer of Ollie’s and intended to purchase two matching ceramic pots.
31. Murray interfered with his right to contract when he pulled a knife on him while he shopped, used racist epithets, and ordered him to choose pots from a different part of the store.
32. Ollie’s denied Guerrero the right to make and enforce contracts and treated him with woefully inferior service than that afforded to Whites, resulting in him being unable to purchase the pots he desired because of his skin color and national origin.
Substantive Law:
42 U.S.C. § 1981:
(a) Statement of equal rights
All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts . . . as is enjoyed by white citizens.
(b) “Make and enforce contracts” defined
For purposes of this section, the term “make and enforce contracts” includes the making, performance, modification, and termination of contracts, and the enjoyment of all benefits, privileges, terms, and conditions of the contractual relationship.
Denny v. Ellizabeth Arden Salons (4th Cir. 2006):
Although it does not use the terms, § 1981 prohibits discrimination because of race in contracting. To state a cause of action under § 1981, plaintiff must show 1) the defendant intentionally discriminated because of race; 2) the plaintiff had a contractual interest or relationship with defendant; and 3) the discrimination interfered with that interest.
Plaintiff must allege the loss of an actual, not speculative or prospective, contract interest. This requires an intent to purchase, not physical possession of any item.
Williams v. Staples, Inc. (4th Cir. 2004):
In the retail context, a § 1981 plaintiff must show that he sought to enter a contract with the retailer. Plaintiff must make some tangible attempt to contract, by demonstrating interest in purchasing specific items or by selecting certain merchandise for purchase from defendant.
Green v. Dillard’s Dep’t Stores, Inc. (4th Cir. 2007):
Plaintiff sufficiently pleaded a § 1981 claim based on the discriminatory behavior of one sales clerk, even though another clerk and the store manager were willing to help; plaintiffs did not complete the purchase because, upset and angered by the offensive clerk’s actions, they left the store.
Comcast Corp. v. Nat’l Ass’n of African American-Owned Media (2020):
A § 1981 plaintiff must alleged that he was denied the opportunity to contract for goods or services because of his race.
Ollie’s moves to dismiss under FRCP 12(b)(6). The motion concedes the racially discriminatory nature of Murray’s comments and actions. But it argues that plaintiff failed to plead 1) the existence of any actual contractual interest and relationship with Ollie’s and 2) that any discrimination interfered with his contractual interest because he did not allege that Ollie’s refused to sell a product or provide a service, denied him access to the store, or asked him to leave the store; at most Guerrero was dissuaded or discouraged from making a purchase.
For Plaintiff, oppose the motion.
