A grieving mother filed suit against her son's former employer on Thursday, alleging that he committed suicide because of their cruel treatment.
Graham Gentles, 22, was a cashier at a Target in Pasadena, and was fired in July. He jumped from the roof of a Courtyard Marriott in Monrovia three days later.
Virginia Gentles, represented by attorney Patrick McNicholas, said that her son had Aspergers, and his condition made his termination difficult to bear.
"The nature of Aspergers he tended to hyper focus and so he was very hyper focused on this," McNicholas said in court documents filed in a Los Angeles Superior Court. "He was hyper focused on his loss and it was a perfect storm which resulted in his death."
On the date of the termination, Gentles arrived for work and was met at the door by police officers and store management.
At the direction of the managers, the police officers handcuffed him and led him through the store, in front of his coworkers and customers, to an interrogation room, according to NBC Los Angeles.
After questioning, he was led back through the store and into a patrol car, and was taken to the police station. Gentles was later released without any charges filed. The lawsuit calls Gentles' treatment at Target a "walk of shame."
"The walk of shame is a Target policy to purposely cause shame, embarrassment and emotional distress to any Target employee who is suspected of stealing from Target,'' the suit read.
"The policy consists of employees being arrested and paraded in handcuffs through the Target store in full view of co-workers and customers.''
Target denied having such a policy.
Ms Gentles said the incident damaged her son.
"The only thing he said to me at that moment was, 'Mom this is the worst day of my life,'" she recounted.
There was an incident several months prior to the termination in which Gentles argued with a coworker off-premises. The suit alleged that that disagreement may have caused his eventual termination.
Gentles' mother is alleging false imprisonment, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and said she wants other mothers to avoid the pain that she is in.
"This is my only child," she lamented.
On Friday, Target released a statement regarding the litigation.
"Our thoughts and sympathies go out to the friends and family of this individual,'' Target spokesman Evan Lapiska said. "As this is pending litigation, we don't have further comment at this time.''
