James Shawlin and his 4-year-old son were shopping at Floor and Decor in Highlands Ranch, Colorado on Friday when he says they were verbally assaulted by a store manager who called him “the faggot that voted for Hillary,” and by another customer who overheard the manager and interjected, “what are these faggots going to do to this child?”
Shawlin said he had returned to the store complaining about some damaged stone slabs he had bought for an interior renovation when the alleged assault happened, 9 News reports:
“I was a little firm with him, and I just told him, ‘hey, you know, my husband and I spend a lot of money here. We've been using you guys for ten years. We have $3,000 worth of stone.'” Shawlin said. “And [the manager] goes, ‘oh, that explains it now. The faggot that voted for Hillary.'”
Shawlin said another customer in the aisle who'd overheard the exchange expressed his support for Donald Trump. Shawlin said the same customer followed him outside and used a derogatory term.
“He basically said, ‘what are these faggots going to do to this child?'” Shawlin said.
Shawlin posted about the incident on Facebook, but has now taken his story to local media in hopes of raising awareness about how customers are being treated at the store.
Floor and Decor, an Atlanta-based company with 75 stores nationwide, told 9News it is taking Shawlin's complaint “very seriously” and will be conducting an investigation.
Watch an interview with Shawlin and report from 9News Denver:
UPDATE: The employee has been fired.