Home Depot fires 60-year-old black man after Trump supporter screams racist abuse at him

[NY_20th]

A Home Depot in Albany allegedly fired a black man after a racist Trump supporter hurled abusive racial slurs at him.

The Times-Union reports that Maurice Rucker, 60-year-old black man, was let go from a job he’s held for 10 years—making $13 an hour—because he politely asked a customer to leash his dog in the store.

“I said to him, “Sir, when you have your dog in here we prefer that you keep it on a leash,'” according to the Times-Union.

He turned around and said, ‘F**k you. You’re an a*****e you’re a piece of s**t,'” Rucker said.

He says, ‘If Trump wasn’t president, you wouldn’t even have a job.’ He said, ‘You’re from the ghetto, what do you know?'”

“I’ve lived all over the country and I’ve had no one talk to me the way that this guy talked to me,” said Rucker.

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/07/home-depot-fires-60-year-old-black-man-trump-supporter-screams-racist-abuse/

I'm embarrassed to say this happened in my area. Maurice Rucker is an awesome guy. I've seen his band perform.

here's more on Maurice.

https://www.timesunion.com/localarts/article/Albany-artist-makes-art-with-my-heart-and-my-13017225.php

[bdamomma]

1. horrible

make america hate again. No such thing as tolerance any more.

[spanone]

2. so, why did they fire the employee?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. He essentially told the racist who insulted him he wouldn't insult him if he wasn't at work.

I empathize with Mr. Rucker but I can see why Home Depot acted as it did.. IMHO, he should have been given a warning.


I was all set to call for a boycott.

A just outcome would have been a warning for Mr. Rucker and a lifetime ban from HOME DEPOT for the racist asshat.



ON EDIT- The racist should be banned from HOME DEPOT. In the future harassed employees should immediately contact a manager. Verbal abuse, especially ugly verbal racist abuse shouldn't come with the job. I would have told that racist Deplorable to perform an anatomically impossible act on himself and laugh derisively when he was too pusillanimous to do anything about it but that's me. Deplorables are going to feel their oats among the wrong people.

[NY_20th]

10. it was hardly a threat.

Maurice said "you wouldn't talk to me like this if I wasn't at work."

Maurice doesn't deserve to be harassed by a racist on the job.

[Meadowoak]

35. I would sue home depot.

[still_one]

77. It would be a discrimination lawsuit.

[kcr]

47. Agreed. That was self defense. No reason to fire him.

Time for lawsuits and boycotts.

[Lars39]

56. The employee should file charges against him.

[NY_20th]

7. The manager is saying that Maurice should have disengaged from the racist.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

9. He should have but decent folk can see why he didn't.

[oberliner]

8. The article says because he confronted the racist customer rather than getting management

That he did not follow protocol in dealing with an angry customer.

[NY_20th]

12. Yeah, well, that excuse is not playing well in my area.

It was the racist that was hostile towards Maurice.

The racist was so irate he even left without his dog for a short time.

Management should have escorted the racist out the minute he came back for his dog.

[oberliner]

15. Yes, I think this story getting out will turn out well for Mr. Rucker

As he certainly seems to have been wronged here and social media can often help to correct such injustices.

[rainlillie]

20. The guy who went after that woman in the park was charged with a hate crime. This guy should also

be charged with a hate crime.

[spanone]

16. Sounds like Mr. Rucker was rather restrained with the racist asshole.....hope he finds a better job

-no raise in ten years?-

fuck home depot

[DemocratSinceBirth]

24. A just outcome would have been a warning for Mr. Rucker and a lifetime ban from Home Depot for ...

A just outcome would have been a warning for Mr. Rucker and a lifetime ban from Home Depot for the racist asshat.

[spanone]

54. agreed

[dawg day]

29. Seriously? They fire a long-time employee for that?

They should give him a bonus for not picking up a Home Depot hammer and doing some re-education.

[Jake Stern]

17. Retail 101 - Walk away and get a manager

In every retail job I've worked for the last 25 years one of the first things you learn is that if a customer is becoming belligerent you walk away and get a member of management.

This is both for the safety of staff and to keep liability at a minimum.

[TexasBushwhacker]

26. I agree, but what ever happened to written warnings?

Just firing a 10 year employee outright seems like overkill.

[Jake Stern]

41. Totally agree

He'll have to try his luck with a lawsuit.

[TexasBushwhacker]

66. I doubt that will work

I once had an ex-principal who blackballed me unfairly. I went to an attorney who had experience suing school districts. He said that he would love to take my case, but couldn't do it without a retainer, which was money I didn't have. He said even if I could take my case, it would be years before it would come to trial. In the meantime I needed to find a new job.

So that's what I did, and that's what this guy will have to do. He doesn't have a union to protect him, so he just needs to get out there and find something new. Good luck considering he's 60. It sucks, but that's the way it is. Hopefully the publicity will help him get a new job.

[theaocp]

27. This doesn't mean you FIRE him.

Explain, review, whatthefuckever, but why would they FIRE the cashier-of-the-month who had been there 10 FUCKING YEARS? This is bullshit and I hope their stock goes into the sewers where it belongs. By way of contrast, my trip to ACE yesterday and today was unbelievably awesome, helpful, and they pay local property taxes, so FUCK HOME DEPOT.

[smirkymonkey]

83. I agree. Nobody should have to put up with that abuse at work from some Trump-loving, racist

asshat. Management should have stood by the employee and banned the abusive bastard from the store for life.

This is bullshit!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

28. Yeah, but firing him was harsh given the provocation.

A just outcome would have been a warning for Mr. Rucker and a lifetime ban from Home Depot for the racist asshat. (REDUX)

[dawg day]

40. Too bad we have to employ HUMANS

... and not robots for these jobs, huh? Robots wouldn't be shocked and would be hurt and wouldn't be angry. They would robotically say, "Thank you for your suggestion. I will get my manager."

Human beings, however, might have a reaction, and the employee's response was more restrained than most of us would have.
Too bad the manager apparently isn't entirely human. Not to mention the patron.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

44. I prefer a claw hammer in the neck for racist pigs.

[MyNameGoesHere]

67. That's great

How many times have you been called a nigger in those years you've worked retail if you don't mind me asking?

[NY_20th]

68. I'm pretty sure it's a civil rights violation in New York State.

I've just read in another thread that Home Depot, Albany has caved in on this.

Maurice has been offered his job back.

[Jake Stern]

75. Don't shoot the messenger

I just explain how it is in most retail settings. Workers are expendable and the laws to protect their job are fewer than most imagine.

The problem is that in an at will setting like 99% of retail is, you can be fired for any reason or no reason. Posted a link to the NYS AG's office which lays out what protections a worker has.

[Lee-Lee]

88. Not in retail but try being a minority cop

A shift where I didn’t get called some form of racial slur was a good one, but more often than not I was.

I did have to laugh at how many couldn’t exactly figure out my heritage and jumped back and forth between them or made up new ones as combinations.

And nothing that could be done. If I was a privte citizen and the same words were said to me in a public place then the person could be charged with disorderly conduct for using words likely to provoke a violent response, but the courts ruled cops are expected to take the abuse and not react the same so on the job it’s a higher standard.

[Botany]

3. I hope Home Depot has $$$$

I smell a law suit coming.

[Jake Stern]

21. Unless he's covered under one of the exemptions listed by the NYS AG

He's presumed to be "at will" and doesn't have much recourse.

https://ag.ny.gov/labor/can-you-be-fired

[kcr]

53. That is state law. But there are federal protections, too.

And that list is much longer.

[Vinca]

71. Paging Mr. Avenatti, paging Mr. Avenatti.

Predicting this man gets a 6 figure settlement before a lawsuit is filed.

[Botany]

80. No business would want this kind of bad P.R. so I beta he gets a nice check, a raise, and his .....

..... back by Monday.

[bluestarone]

4. This is so fucking wrong!!!

The no good asshole customer should be BLACKLISTED from all Home Depots!! I will be watching for an apology from HD or i will NEVER SHOP THERE AGAIN!!!!!!!!

[MineralMan]

5. Home Depot will change its mind if it is deluged with

angry emails. That was an incredibly tone-deaf decision. Instead the store should have called the cops and permanently "trespassed" that racists asshole. That they did not will come back and bite them on the ass.

[NY_20th]

13. Exactly.

Our local media is covering it and I expect Maurice to be receiving an apology.

This is not playing well for Home Depot in my area.

[Hoyt]

11. The employee made an appropriate response to an ignorant racist. HD should reconsider.

[MineralMan]

14. Here's an email address:

[e-mail]

Tell them what you think of this. I just did.

[Achilleaze]

32. k and r

[dawg day]

43. Done!

Thanks for the link!

[NY_20th]

18. Here is local coverage of this incident

including an interview with Maurice.

https://wnyt.com/news/home-depot-employee-says-he-was-fired-after-responding-to-customers-racist-rant-albany/4995436/

[rainlillie]

19. I just posted this same story..

I called and left a message at their main office. Here's the number if you'd like to call. 770-384-4646. We've shopped at that particular store before. This goes to show you that racism isn't just in the red states. This is upstate New York. There is such a feeling of uneasy in this country right now for people of color. I'm hearing family members who were around during the Civil Rights movement telling me how afraid they are.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

22. Deplorables are everywhere but if he pulled that shit in public he'd likely get a whuppin.

I'm not countenancing violence but that would be the most likely outcome.

[NY_20th]

23. Solid blue Albany County.

This store is right across the road from the University at Albany.

Trump has enabled racists and it is out of control.

[rainlillie]

46. Yes, it is.

The MSM should do a story on the increase in hateful hostility towards people of color since the a$$hole has been in office. I know MSNBC did a town hall, but it was more or less how can POC make white folks feel less uncomfortable.

[mnhtnbb]

49. I wish someone local would start a gofundme for Maurice to hold him over

until he can find another job.

It can't be easy for a 60 year old black man who's had publicity about being fired for defending himself against a racist asshole.

[Aristus]

25. Looks like the manager was a racist asshole, too.

Nearly thirty years ago, when I worked in a bookstore, a nasty customer hurled a racist slur at my assistant manager, who was Vietnamese-American. I told him off, but good, and I got written up for it. I was required to call the customer and apologize to him, and that was it. I didn't get fired. Any surprise that I'm white?

BTW, my assistant manager had helped me get the job in the first place, and was one of the sweetest, kindest women I've ever known. I would never tolerate any disrespect toward her. Beautiful, too; she looked like a Vietnamese Ingrid Bergman.

[NY_20th]

30. Yeah, firing him was way over the top.

Love you story. Good for you.

You must have bitten your tongue pretty hard on that phone call.

[Aristus]

33. Thank. I got it over with as quickly as possible.

But I made it sound good. No robotic I'm-sorry-for-my-behavior delivery, or the egregious "I'm sorry if you were offended" non-apology. I really needed the job, and pride doesn't pay the bills.

[dalton99a]

34. Racists are generally the vilest people

It is in their core, and their cruelty seldom improves regardless of laws or social norms

[Aristus]

39. And so are the people who make excuses for them.

It happened a lot in the South, where I grew up. I always heard things like: "Uncle Orel is as sweet as all git-out. He jes' don't like neegras, that's all."

[lpbk2713]

37. Some men are intimidated by attractive women.

And lashing out at them is a defense mechanism to vent their insecurity.

[Dr Vegas]

38. I to have worked in a Bookstore

"B*rders?"

I was also written up for telling a customer to leave the store after I witness him harassing another employee.
that customer call corporate to complain. I was told by the GM, that working in retail I should expect a certain amount of harassment from customers

[Aristus]

42. B. Dalton's Bookseller.

Borders Books & Music would have been a step up.

I have tales from the retail gulag that would turn the hair white on anyone who had never worked retail.

Welcome to DU.

[lpbk2713]

31. Working at Home Despot is a horrible way to make a living.

But even so they should have stood behind their employee for enforcing HDs policies.
And contrary to what this asshole says, Mr Rucker is lucky to HAVE a job, such as it
is, as long as Trump is pretender to the throne.

[Initech]

36. More of that good ol' fashioned #Civility!

[Flaleftist]

45. That's definitely fucked up.

It's also fucked up that at a company as big and profitable as Home Depot is only paying a 10 year employee $13 an hour.

[GusBob]

48. "You wear the uniform, you take the abuse"

William Pitt

[NY_20th]

50. This isn't a customer complaining about a product,

or a sales price, Maurice was subjected to a racist tirade.

That is absolutely not acceptable, especially in his own workplace.

[GusBob]

55. I get that. This might have been before your time here

That poster, who called Obama " a piece of shit used car salesman" because he couldn't figure out his wife's health insurance, claimed if you wore the uniform of the company you had to withstand the abuse. As someone who worked in customer service I will never forget it.

He never had a real job in his life, if you stood up to him around here with 900 posts, you would be crucified by his acolytes, trust me I was

[NY_20th]

59. Oh, I see.

Sounds like a real winner.


I learned about DU on twitter so I wanted to check it out.

[obamanut2012]

79. And when I called him out that day for calling Obama a POS

He and his fanboys and fangirls attacked me. As usual, Admin let him get away for it, just like he they did when he threatened to kill another poster, etc.

[GusBob]

82. Some hard feelings are hard to forget

Best to let it go I reckon. He ain't around anymore. Don't know about his sycophants.

I will not forget when I was a low count poster and the pile on

I'm still here

[Timmygoat]

51. Just sent an email to Home Depot

Telling them that it is Lowes for ever now for my family and I, please do the same.

[mnhtnbb]

52. Can you or someone else start a gofundme to help tide Maurice over

until he finds another job?

It can't be easy for a 60 year old black man to find work--particularly when he's fired for standing up for himself against
a racist asshole.

I'd be happy to contribute. I'm sick of hearing these stories of Trumpster deplorable racist, bigoted jerks mouthing off to people.
And to get the guy fired? Over the top.

Of course everyone knows Home Depot co-founders Bernie Marcus and Ken Langone are both rabid Trumpsters.

[beachbum bob]

57. Home Depot wants a backlash I guess...so what do we know about

the general manager at this store!

[mnhtnbb]

58. a gofundme has been started for Mr. Rucker

https://www.gofundme.com/injustice-in-the-518/

Can you get some publicity for it locally?

[NY_20th]

60. Wonderful.

Yes, I will share this on my social media.

I have a friend who works at WNYT, our NBC affiliate, and I want to push for more coverage.

A few of us are also in discussions about a protest outside of the Home Depot store.

[mnhtnbb]

62. Great! I'd love to see him get enough to let him know

that a lot of people would like to help him out and deplore the decision of his former employer not to support him against a racist jerk.

[NY_20th]

61. I'm all smiles right now.

The person who started this is a friend of mine.

[mnhtnbb]

63. Hooray! Keep us updated!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

64. I already had these scumbags on my shit list just based on their doucehbag founder. Now even more

reason to not set foot in there.

[radius777]

65. Racial harassment should be a crime,

specifically a hate crime, wherever/whenever it occurs, ie at home, work, school, etc.

Because there are more and more of these cases where racists and fascists are more emboldened (due to Trump) to attack people verbally and sometimes even physically.

The victims of hate crimes should be fully within their rights to respond even in the workplace, and due to the inflammatory nature of the attack should be expected to overreact.. humans are not robots.

As to the free speech crowd, racial harassment is 'fighting words' and the SCOTUS has ruled that fighting words are not protected speech.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fighting_words
Fighting words are, as first defined by the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) in Chaplinsky v New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568 (1942), words which "by their very utterance, inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace. ... Fighting words are a category of speech that is unprotected by the First Amendment.

[NY_20th]

69. For music lovers

[youtube]

[/youtube]

[EffieBlack]

70. I sent an email to Home Depot and got this response:

Good Afternoon,

We take any termination very seriously and we’re careful to ensure associates are treated fairly. We’re appalled by this customer’s behavior, but we also must require associates to follow proper protocol to defuse a situation for the sake of their safety and the safety of other associates and customers.

Best Regards,


The Home Depot – Customer Care
Resolution Expediter – E-Mail

[NY_20th]

73. Yeah, that's a pathetic response

Apparently the Home Depot is caving on this and has offered Maurice his job back.

It's one thing to diffuse a situation about a sales price or a long line wait. It's quite another to be racially berated.

No protocol in the world should accept what happened to Maurice. None. It's simply not acceptable, and enough is enough.

[MineralMan]

90. I got the same email response.

However, the emails must have helped, since he got his job back. Numbers count.

[Captain Stern]

72. Fuck Home Depot

The employee didn't follow company protocol...blah, blah, blah.

They basically fired the guy on a technicality because they didn't have the courage to deal with the issue any other way.

Firing their longtime employee was the technically 'correct' thing to do, but it sure as hell wasn't the right thing to do.

Sometimes you have to make a choice between the 'correct' thing to do, and the right thing to do.

When faced with that choice, it's usually best to go with the right thing. Home Depot chose poorly.

[Boomerproud]

74. I never set foot in HD so no loss.

Best wishes and best of luck to Mr. Rucker.

[MattP]

78. Can't say he was valued to Home Depot he started at 12 a hour 13 years it was 12.78

[still_one]

81. "Black Home Depot employee fired after altercation with Trump supporter offered job back"

A black man who was fired from Home Depot after being accosted with racial abuse by a customer has gotten his job back, says a company spokesman.

Maurice Rucker, 60, was let go from his $13-an-hour job after the incident. Rucker had politely asked a white man to leash his dog in the store.

The man responded with a torrent of abuse: “F**k you. You’re an a*****e you’re a piece of s**t.”

The man then told Rucker that “if Trump wasn’t president, you wouldn’t even have a job. You’re from the ghetto, what do you know?”

Rucker then told the man that he was lucky he was working the job he’s had for the last decade or he would not allow himself to be spoken to that way.

Home Depot had initially fired him for not being appropriately deferential and “disengaging” from the racist customer.

Now they feel differently.

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/07/black-home-depot-employee-fired-altercation-trump-supporter-offered-job-back/

[Gothmog]

84. The employee got his job back

Link to tweet

[NY_20th]

85. That's what I expected.

My area is not down with this racial bullshit.

It won't fly here.

[mnhtnbb]

86. He's been offered his job back but no word

if he's accepted it. I wouldn't trust them. What if they reduce his hours so he's not eligible for benefits,? Or wait a bit until things cool off and then lay him off? I wouldn't trust them.

The GoFundMe has raised $1145. for him so far.

[NY_20th]

87. Local update: He has received other job offers

Rucker has been contacted by other employers who read of his plight and hoped to speak to him about job possibilities. Albany County Executive Dan McCoy was among those interested in hiring Rucker, as was the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society and Curtis Lumber.

Many of you wanted to know more about the man who started all this — the customer who treated Rucker so poorly. Did Home Depot ban the guy?

The company told me they couldn't do so, because they don't know his name. Neither do I. For now, he's just an anonymous man who, as I said in the first column, seems to have hate in his heart.

It is disheartening that some people go through life that way. But he is just one man, and his venom is outweighed by all of you who were upset by Rucker's story and wanted justice.

https://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Churchill-After-outrage-Home-Depot-reverses-13092691.php

[mnhtnbb]

91. The gofundme set up for Mr. Rucker has raised $3123 towards a goal of $5,000.

to help him with his expenses while he's without a job.

https://www.gofundme.com/injustice-in-the-518/

I hope one of the other offers pans out for him. You have to wonder if he could trust Home Depot after they were
willing to fire a 10 year employee based on an anonymous complaint.

[NY_20th]

93. The latest update is that he is not taking Home Depot's job offer

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Fired-after-confronting-racist-customer-ex-Home-13095898.php

He's driving for Lyft and has an interview on Tuesday.

[mnhtnbb]

96. AND, the gofundme made the goal of raising $5,000 for him!

https://www.gofundme.com/injustice-in-the-518?viewupdates=1&rcid=r01-15323993419-e4bb281117964154&utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_content=cta_button&utm_campaign=upd_n

[NY_20th]

97. Wow! That's incredible!!

It was $3,333 last time I checked it.

[GusBob]

89. As someone who signs the front of paychecks this is the way I look at it

1. No unrestrained animals allowed in our businesses. Service animals of course are legit. Another customer gets bit, we get sued. Even worse these days with social media everyone hears about

2. No abuse of our employees allowed, foul , racist language, sexual harassment. The customer is gone like a shot. Call the cops if it gets raging. A long term employee who shows up everyday for years is more important than one customer.

[Gothmog]

94. Black man fired by Home Depot for reacting to "racist" customer won't accept his job back.

Link to tweet

[trueblue2007]

95. hubby & I NEVER, EVER shop at Home Depot & now that we know H.D is RACIST

hubby & I NEVER, EVER shop at Home Depot & now that we know H.D is RACIST
BOYCOTT H.D.



and HD treats veterans like crap. no discount. Lowes gives hubby 10% on everything