Woman Awarded $1 Million After Being Told ‘I Don’t Serve Black People’ At Gas Station

A woman in Oregon has been awarded $1 million in damages subsequent to being discriminated against by a gas station worker. That person had told her that, “I don’t serve Black people.”

63-year-old Rose Wakefield of Portland, Oregon, was awarded $550,000 in included damages.

Gregory Kafoury, Wakefield’s attorney, stated that she had gone for gas at Jacksons Food Store in Beaverton on March 12, 2020. She then observed that the defendant, Nigel Powers, ignored her and pumped gas for someone else.

When she attempted to request assistance, he stated, “I’ll get to you when I feel like it,” the lawyer noted.

It is mandatory that attendants pump gas for drivers in Oregon’s larger areas like Portland and Beaverton.

Camera footage shows Wakefield going inside to request help. Another worker took her outside to pump her gas. When she questioned Powers about why he wasn’t assisting her, he said, “I don’t serve Black people.”

Wakefield attempted to contact the manager for two weeks after the incident occurred. However, her calls were never returned.

A month following the incident, Powers was terminated after corporate documents showed that he had been written up multiple times for talking on his cellphone.

A statement from Jacksons Food Stores Thursday stated that the company has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any sort. They added that they don’t agree with the ruling by the judge because “our knowledge does not align with the verdict.”