AgentSparky
Registered Independent
Based on what I seen in the video, she clearly was in the wrong
Woman intimidated after she asks about Confederate flag rug at Portland store
A Portland liquidation store has removed Confederate flag rugs and hopes to apologize to a woman who filmed employees of the store intimidating her after she asked about the rugs.
On Wednesday morning, according to Heather Franklin, 33, she dropped one of her children off at school and took another, as well as a child she was babysitting, to Everyday Deals Extreme on Southeast 146th Avenue. Franklin said she goes to the store, which is a discount liquidator that carries a variety of different products, as often as twice a week, and she was shocked when she noticed a Confederate flag rug on display.
Even more surprising was the reaction of several store employees when she asked them about the rugs. Franklin said Wednesday over the phone that she began filming the store's employees after they dismissed her concerns about the rug.
"Don't care about having hate flags on your wall?" Franklin says in the video.
"How's that a hate symbol?" asks one man in a blue shirt.
"Read your history," he adds as he walks away.
Rug display at Everyday Deals Extreme.Heather Franklin
As Franklin was filming the store and walking out with what she said was on toddler on her back and one holding her hand, another man in a red shirt who later identified himself as an employee, flips her off and says, "Bye bitch. Get your kids out of here."
Then, the man in the blue shirt reappears, now filming Franklin. "Look at this liberal," he says.
"Yeah look at this liberal whiny bitch here," the man in the red shirt responds.
"Hillary supporter? Bernie supporter?" he asks. "Which one did you vote for that lost. Is that why you're in a bad mood?"
In a second video, the two men and Franklin yell at each other across the parking lot. Franklin said the men were approaching her in the parking lot.
"I felt like they were going to come and physically hurt me," Franklin said later.
In the video, Franklin becomes visibly distressed and the two men mock her for crying.
Confederate flag rug at Everyday Deals Extreme.Heather Franklin
Andrew Toolson, the CEO of Everyday Deals, said over the phone Wednesday that he does not condone the behavior of his employees or the Confederate flag rugs.
Toolson said the inventory of Everyday Deals is in constant flux.
"We receive thousands of different products," Toolson said, including a load of a 150 rugs this week.
"On that load were a few of these rugs with symbol of Confederate flag," he said.
Toolson said the rugs had been taken down, adding, "We've contacted the rug supplier and said please don't send us those."
Toolson said that since the videos went up on Wednesday morning, he has received calls from across the country.
"I was sick to my stomach when I saw that video," he told us. He said that he considers his company to be "as far from a racist organization" as it can be.
"I've talked to those employees," he said. "They've handled it very poorly."
Toolson told KGW on Thursday that the employees involved in the incident are on indefinite leave. He said that he had reached out to Franklin and hopes to apologize
Woman intimidated after she asks about Confederate flag rug at Portland store
A Portland liquidation store has removed Confederate flag rugs and hopes to apologize to a woman who filmed employees of the store intimidating her after she asked about the rugs.
On Wednesday morning, according to Heather Franklin, 33, she dropped one of her children off at school and took another, as well as a child she was babysitting, to Everyday Deals Extreme on Southeast 146th Avenue. Franklin said she goes to the store, which is a discount liquidator that carries a variety of different products, as often as twice a week, and she was shocked when she noticed a Confederate flag rug on display.
Even more surprising was the reaction of several store employees when she asked them about the rugs. Franklin said Wednesday over the phone that she began filming the store's employees after they dismissed her concerns about the rug.
"Don't care about having hate flags on your wall?" Franklin says in the video.
"How's that a hate symbol?" asks one man in a blue shirt.
"Read your history," he adds as he walks away.
Rug display at Everyday Deals Extreme.Heather Franklin As Franklin was filming the store and walking out with what she said was on toddler on her back and one holding her hand, another man in a red shirt who later identified himself as an employee, flips her off and says, "Bye bitch. Get your kids out of here."
Then, the man in the blue shirt reappears, now filming Franklin. "Look at this liberal," he says.
"Yeah look at this liberal whiny bitch here," the man in the red shirt responds.
"Hillary supporter? Bernie supporter?" he asks. "Which one did you vote for that lost. Is that why you're in a bad mood?"
In a second video, the two men and Franklin yell at each other across the parking lot. Franklin said the men were approaching her in the parking lot.
"I felt like they were going to come and physically hurt me," Franklin said later.
In the video, Franklin becomes visibly distressed and the two men mock her for crying.
Confederate flag rug at Everyday Deals Extreme.Heather Franklin Andrew Toolson, the CEO of Everyday Deals, said over the phone Wednesday that he does not condone the behavior of his employees or the Confederate flag rugs.
Toolson said the inventory of Everyday Deals is in constant flux.
"We receive thousands of different products," Toolson said, including a load of a 150 rugs this week.
"On that load were a few of these rugs with symbol of Confederate flag," he said.
Toolson said the rugs had been taken down, adding, "We've contacted the rug supplier and said please don't send us those."
Toolson said that since the videos went up on Wednesday morning, he has received calls from across the country.
"I was sick to my stomach when I saw that video," he told us. He said that he considers his company to be "as far from a racist organization" as it can be.
"I've talked to those employees," he said. "They've handled it very poorly."
Toolson told KGW on Thursday that the employees involved in the incident are on indefinite leave. He said that he had reached out to Franklin and hopes to apologize
