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A Black woman says she miscarried after a violent encounter with a gas station employee.
According to theGrio, Rev. Deria Francis Stukes, 40, filed a lawsuit against Circle K and one of its former employees after she was allegedly assaulted in May while eight weeks pregnant at the gas station in Bowling Green, Ohio.
“Losing a child, whether it was a full-blown baby or just a small fetus, you still lost a child — and the way it happened, it was really, really traumatizing,” Stukes said.
The violent confrontation allegedly unfolded after Stukes asked Shannon Walsh, a clerk, to cancel a transaction so she could apply her Circle K fuel rewards. Stukes said the clerk became hostile and made racially charged remarks.
Surveillance video reportedly shows Walsh throwing a jar of coins that struck Stukes in the stomach, then coming from behind the counter, grabbing her by the hair, and repeatedly punching her. Stukes’ children, who were accompanying the mother on a trip from South Carolina to Detroit, witnessed the altercation.
“I had to tell my 13-year-old to go get your dad,” Stukes said. “Why am I trying to defend myself?"
Stukes’ attorney, Charles Boyk, said Walsh used racial slurs during the attack, calling Stukes “an animal” and “ghetto.” Bowling Green police arrested Walsh at the scene. She later pleaded no contest and was found guilty of assault in municipal court.
The lawsuit seeks $75,000 in damages and alleges that Circle K failed to maintain safe premises and failed to properly hire, train, or supervise its employees, allowing violence and discrimination to occur.
“This never should have happened,” Boyk said in a statement. “Rev. Francis was a pregnant mother simply trying to redeem a routine store loyalty reward. Instead, she was violently attacked, subjected to racist slurs, and suffered the unimaginable loss of her unborn child.”
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