St. Louis couple claimed they were denied service May 7, at a Schnucks store nearby because of their race. The employee was terminated as a consequence.
Kellen Hill posted videos of the incident that happened in south St. Louis, Missouri on social media and said, “It’s really sad that you can’t be black and buy a money order without being accused of fraud.”
Hill tried to obtain a money order worth $1,100 to pay his rent by using his debit card and showed them his Florida driver license, but store employees told Hill to come back with cash instead because of recent store situations with fraud according to KVLR 11.
The customer withdrew cash just as the store suggested and sent his girlfriend into the store with the money to purchase the slip, but she was denied as well.
Hill returned back into the store where his girlfriend was standing and began recording. Other customers came to the couple’s defense and asked why the pair was being denied service, but the employee Travis Donahue said he was following the company’s anti-fraud policy, the news station reported.
Donahue initially called to have the couple arrested for disorderly conduct, but eventually issued Hill and his girlfriend the $1,100 money order while apologizing for the inconvenience.
Schnucks ultimately fired Donahue for not granting the couple a money order after Hill returned back to the store with cash. The spokeswoman of the company apologized to Hill and the store released the following statement:
“Creating an environment where customers receive exceptional service is one of Schnucks’ core values. The exact opposite was on display yesterday, when a customer attempted to use cash to purchase a money order at one of our stores and was refused. This should not have happened. We have spoken to the customer by phone to apologize. The teammate involved was terminated. I would also like to publicly apologize as well…”
Hill has since hired an attorney.