On the last day of Black History Month, I walked into a Dollar Tree store in Reisterstown, Maryland to make a routine purchase for a community event.

Instead of completing a simple transaction, I was met with profanity, hostility, and public humiliation by a store manager. When I calmly asked for clarification about pricing, I was cursed at and dismissed.

Then, the situation escalated even further.

The police were called.

Not because there was a threat.
Not because there was violence.
Not because there was disruption.

But because I asked a question.

This is what happens when customer service is replaced with escalation, and when authority is misused instead of exercised with responsibility.

Calling the police is not a neutral act. It is the use of state power. And when that power is weaponized in everyday situations, especially against Black customers, it creates real and unnecessary risk.

This was not just about one incident.

After reporting what happened, I was contacted by corporate leadership and told the matter had been “adequately addressed.”

It was not.

The same manager remains in the store.

Since then, I have heard from multiple customers and witnesses describing similar experiences - verbal abuse, aggressive behavior, and unnecessary escalation. A recent community post has already generated responses from people who have encountered the same treatment.

Even more troubling, I encountered a young employee who described ongoing verbal abuse, intimidation, and threats in that same workplace. No one should have to endure that environment just to keep a job.

This is not an isolated issue. It is a pattern.

And patterns require accountability.

I have filed formal civil rights complaints under Article 29 of the Baltimore County Code with the Baltimore County Office of Human Rights and the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights. But accountability should not require legal action to begin.

Dollar Tree leadership has a responsibility to act.

Because this is what is at stake:

• Customers being humiliated and denied basic service
• Employees being subjected to abusive and hostile treatment
• Law enforcement being used as a tool of intimidation in nonviolent situations
• A pattern of behavior being ignored rather than corrected

It might have been easier to release a problematic employee.
It might have been easier to accept the offer for statewide training.
It might have been easier to take this seriously the first time.

Instead, what we are seeing is inaction.

We are calling on Dollar Tree leadership to do better.

 
What We Are Demanding
We are asking Dollar Tree to take immediate and meaningful action, including:

• Conduct a transparent and thorough investigation into the manager’s ongoing conduct
• Remove any employee who has demonstrated a pattern of abusive behavior and misuse of police
• Implement clear, enforceable policies on when law enforcement may be contacted
• Provide mandatory training for all managers on de-escalation, professionalism, and bias awareness
• Ensure safe, respectful working conditions for all employees
• Commit to accountability measures that prevent this from happening again

Why This Matters
This is about more than one store.

This is about whether corporations can allow harmful behavior to continue unchecked.
This is about whether customers can expect dignity when they walk into a business.
This is about whether employees can work without fear of humiliation or retaliation.

And it is about whether everyday situations will continue to be escalated into dangerous ones.

No one should have to calculate their safety before asking a question at a register.

No one should be subjected to abuse in a place of business.

No one should have the police called on them for simply trying to complete a transaction.

 
Call to Action
Sign this petition to demand accountability from Dollar Tree leadership.

Share this message to ensure this pattern does not continue in silence.

Because accountability should not be optional. And dignity should not be negotiable.

Read More Here: AFRO American Newspapers -  “When Calling the Police Becomes a Corporate Reflex.”