A 72-year-old California woman has sued Home Depot for age discrimination and wrongful termination after the retail giant fired her for failing to stop $5,000 in fraudulent transactions.
Carlene Acevedo “loved working” as a cashier at the San Ramon Home Depot. In her 60s, she won multiple awards for her service — including Cashier of the Year in 2021 — and was understandably “upset” and disorientated when she was fired last July after a scary incident with a shopper.
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Acevedo got a “funny feeling” when she was approached at her till by a customer with a “very suspicious” card, who demanded multiple transactions to be processed as cash.
This happened just three months after a loss prevention officer was shot and killed at a nearby Pleasanton Home Depot while trying to stop a theft attempt. Alone and disturbed by the dubious customer, the then-71-year-old processed the fraudulent transactions.
“Four days later, I got fired,” she told the ABC 7 News I-Team, describing her former employer’s response to the incident as totally “devastating.”
“I lost so much,” she said. “I lost my health care [and] my health declined as a result of that. I had difficulty finding work and paying my rent was put into question.”
Ultimately, she decided to sue Home Depot for the ill-treatment she believes she was subjected to. Here’s what happened.
A suspicious customer
Acevedo was working alone in the Garden Center when a man approached her cash register with a “suspicious” card that had instructions on the back to process his transaction as cash. Wary of confrontation, she rang up the first purchase for a little more than $1,300.
Thirty-minutes later, the man “targeted” Acevedo again, this time demanding three additional cash transactions totaling around $4,000 that he wanted done “as fast as possible.”
He “got upset” when she tried to call her supervisor and, “scared” of what he may do, Acevedo ultimately did what the customer asked. She did, however, discreetly make copies of the receipts, which she took to her manager after he left.
Acevedo did what she thought was right, based on the annual employee training she’d received on what to do in the event of shoplifting or an active shooter.
“I was instructed not to do a thing,” she said. “Do not approach, do not touch, do not try to dissuade [or] interfere … just let them go.”
But she was swiftly punished for letting the customer walk away with $5,000 in fraudulent transactions. Within four days of the incident, she was fired for “creating a security or loss prevention risk,” per her termination letter.
The attorney representing Acevedo in her lawsuit, Chambord Benton-Hayes, said the senior did everything she could in the difficult — and potentially dangerous — scenario. In an interview with ABC 7 News, Benton-Hayes explained: “She asked for back-up, she’s making copies of the receipts. She can’t risk her life … employees are explicitly taught not to risk their life for merchandise.”
Acevedo is claiming she was wrongfully terminated by Home Depot and is now working with Benton-Hayes to prove her case. Employment attorneys are often brought in to consult around wrongful termination claims, which are typically complex and revolve around case specifics, employment contracts, employee handbooks and state and federal laws.
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Was there more to the firing?
The 72-year-old is not just suing for wrongful termination; she has also accused the retailer of age discrimination.
According to her lawsuit, Acevedo learned six months before the incident that the San Ramon store had hired a teenager as a cashier with a starting salary of $21 an hour. Aged 70 at the time — and with seven years of experience under her belt — Acevedo was only making $20.17 an hour. She complained and received a $2 raise the following month.
Benton-Hayes thinks the moment Acevedo complained about the wage disparity, she became a target and “they really just wanted an excuse to terminate her.”
When the ABC 7 News I-Team sought comment from Home Depot on these allegations, a spokesperson said the retailer could not “discuss ongoing litigation.”
Sadly, allegations of age discrimination in the workplace are not uncommon. According to a recent AARP study, roughly two-thirds of adults over 50 believe older workers face discrimination in the workplace — and of that group, 90% believe ageism is commonplace.
Age could have played into Acevedo’s challenging job hunt following her termination. After an anxious period of unemployment — when she wasn’t sure if she could even pay for the roof over her head — Acevedo eventually found new, part-time work to help her survive her senior years.
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