Gay Woman Says She Was Refused Service at a Dollar Store
A woman in New Orleans says she was refused service at her local Family Dollar store after watching a cashier loudly express "homophobic sentiments to customers with a hateful passion," and then asking the cashier to stop because she happens "to be very, very gay."
Melissa Langford, 34, posted three videos to Facebook on Friday that allegedly show the cashier at Family Dollar refusing to serve her, though the videos are a bit unclear. What is very clear, though, is the status Langford wrote with the videos, which have been viewed more than 70,000 times since they were posted.
"It started off with the cashier loudly voicing her opinion on how much she hates gay people (as I casually stand in line realizing what she's saying)," Langford wrote. "I started to writhe away internally. I wanted to cry right then and there. In fact, I'm crying right now. I said, 'Excuse me, but I'm very, very gay, and you're really offending me. Think what you want but keep it to yourself.' She. Flipped. Out. Went totally off."
Langford adds that a male customer, who isn't gay but supports the gay community, was also denied service because he didn't share the cashier's same hateful values. And in an update to the post, Langford said she called the Family Dollar headquarters but has yet to hear back. Commenters on Langford's viral status, which has been shared more than 1,600 times, are writing that they're also calling the Family Dollar national headquarters in order to help Langford make a complaint against the employee.
According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Langford used called the cashier "a nincompoop," among other obscenities, to voice her anger at being refused service.
"Whether I'm right or wrong, [the cashier] shouldn't be treating a customer this way, and she can't deny people service just because she feels like it," Langford told the Times-Picayune.
Langford tried to speak with a manager who was in the back at the time of the whole incident, but she declined to get involved. "She said, 'I can't control nothing. She can say and do what she wants,'" Langford said.
Family Dollar responded to Langford's allegations in a statment to the Times-Picayune on Monday afternoon, and said they're investigating the claims. "We take incidents like this very seriously," said Bryn Winburn, Family Dollar's public and media relations manager, in an email to the Times-Picayune. "The code specifically forbids unprofessional conduct and comments on sexual orientation, among other matters. Any activity that goes against this code is simply not how we expect our stores to do business. This situation is currently under investigation."
Update 4/26, 2:58 p.m.: This post was updated to include a statement from Family Dollar the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
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