Prior to this past Thanksgiving holiday, a Michaels Store in Chicago experienced a customer-service fiasco that was recorded by a bystander, named Jessie Grady. For 30-minutes, Grady watched and recorded a woman who unleashed incredible vitriol on two employees (and everyone else in the store). The verbal assault was delivered by a woman now identified as Jennifer Boyle.
Boyle has an alleged history of accosting innocent individuals who affront her obtuse sense of values. Boyle, who may suffer from a mental illness, accused the employees of racial discrimination multiple times, appeared to be having some sort of breakdown.
After enduring the rant and being accosted herself, Grady decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe called “Stand Strong Against Racism.” Originally seeking $400, the initiative has successfully secured well over $23,000 $32,000 by more than 1,600 2,200 supporters within a matter of days.
Grady revealed:
“On the night before Thanksgiving, I witnessed a white woman engage in a 30 minute racist rant (complete with yelling and cursing and repeated references to the fact that employees were African American) against the employees at a Chicago Michaels store – because she did not like that they offered her the option to purchase a re-usable shopping bag for her larger items. I was directly in front of this customer in line, I stopped at the exit to show my 2-year-oldd a Christmas ornament and witnessed first-hand that the Michaels’ employees did nothing to provoke this verbal attack, and in fact treated all customers with professionalism and courtesy. I was so shocked by this unprovoked attack that I captured 17 minutes of it on video on my phone.”
Grady then explained that she started the GoFundMe campaign because she wants to try to make it up to the employee who was the main target of the woman’s verbal attack:
“I’d like to show her that many people are horrified by how this woman treated her, and that we stand with her and appreciate her hard work. She inspired me because despite the hateful words that were being hurled in her direction, she stood in that entranceway calm and unmoving to protect her staff and customers. Her calmness calmed me and I saw a true leader, which in today’s world, is something to be rewarded.”
All funds from the campaign will go towards the employee and her family. Boyle, has since deleted her LinkedIn page and is being disavowed by her former employer – Sinai Health System.
Wow.
Update: This GoFundMe campaign is no longer accepting donations.
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