Tyrese Gibson chooses to represent himself in lawsuit

“Fast & Furious’’ franchise star Tyrese Gibson and two other plaintiffs are now representing themselves in their racial profiling lawsuit filed against Home Depot and a judge has vacated a trial date scheduled for the fall.
Gibson’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges civil rights violations and negligent hiring, supervision and retention. Two of the 44-year-old singer/actor’s construction workers, Eric Mora and Manual Hernandez, also are plaintiffs in the suit, which seeks more than $1 million in compensatory damages, the amount the suit maintains Gibson has spent over time at Home Depot. Gibson also seeks punitive damages.
Gibson and the two other plaintiffs became self-represented on July 2. During what was scheduled to be a conference before Judge Upinder S. Kalra, only Mora showed up, so the judge canceled the planned Oct. 28 trial date and instead set a trial-setting hearing for Oct. 16. The plaintiffs’ attorneys had included longtime entertainment lawyer Martin D. Singer.
According to the suit filed last Aug. 9, Gibson, “one of the most recognizable Black actors and musicians in the United States, and his associates … experienced outrageous discriminatory mistreatment and consumer racial profiling first-hand inside the Home Depot retail store in West Hills.’’
Home Depot “needs to understand that there are consequences for discriminatory mistreatment and consumer racial profiling,’’ the suit further states. Gibson and the other plaintiffs are “committed to doing their part to advance civil rights and put an end to the despicable practice of discriminatory mistreatment and consumer racial profiling at the Home Depot, and, by extension, all retail stores,’’ the suit states.
Gibson and his workers went to the Victory Boulevard store on Feb. 11, 2023, where Gibson, worried his fame could cause a distraction, had his construction workers pay for the items the three selected with his credit card while he went to his car, the suit states. However, Gibson returned to the store when the cashier declined to complete the transaction, according to the suit.
The cashier “gave no reasonable explanation other than repeating store policy and demanded to see a form of identification,’’ according to the suit.
The manager refused to speak with Gibson and the transaction was completed only after a heated discussion with the cashier, according to the suit, which alleges the actions of the cashier and manager were racially motivated.