The saying “it’s all fun and?games until someone gets?hurt” has long been used and, for the most part, been true. Now the saying has a new meaning with recent cases at mega corporation Target.
Last?July Graham Gentles showed up to work at the Pasadena, California location of Target, only to wind up?handcuffed and paraded around the store. The practice is known as the “walk of shame,” according to other employees who?were?subject to this treatment. Gentles reportedly was detained and taken to the police station where he was later released without any charges. But what still resulted was a grueling effect on?the 22-year-old with Asperger’s Syndrome, who told his mother:
“Mom, this is the worst day of my life.”
Only three days after the incident, the 22-year-old leaped to his death off of a hotel building. And while the first reaction was?a good deal of sorrow, mother Virginia Gentles quickly slapped a lawsuit on the two managers of the Pasadena Target.
Virginia Gentles is suing for?imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and wrongful death. While this case of “walk of shame” may be?the most severe, it’s apparently not the first to happen at Target Superstores. A former employee of a Compton, California location says:
“They handcuffed me and walked me from the back-of-the-store office all the way out to the front of the store.”
But as soon as he was escorted outside he was released without any charge. These are just two of many accounts of bad treatment from?Target managers. And while this may not seem like a big deal to some, it leaves a sour taste in the mouth of employees and future employees. While Target has claimed they have not endorsed the “walk of shame” practice, the Target brand might get a blemish as result of the actions of a few managers.
