A Virginia man was asked to change his Black Panther t-shirt after he was photographed in it for his Employee Of The Month picture at Sam’s Club.
According to T.C. Daniels, the man involved, a customer kept calling to complain about the shirt. And now Sam’s Club is asking him to retake the photo in a different shirt.
“[My manager] said [the customer] said my shirt is offensive, and if someone was in a KKK shirt, they wouldn’t be allowed to wear that, so why are we allowing that,” Daniels wrote in a Facebook post with a photo of himself in the t-shirt.
“I’m not sure what triggered this man or how you get offended by a fictional superhero character. I can only assume you saw the characters name, the individual wearing it, and chose to make your own assumptions about me.”
Daniels says he refused to retake the pic, and would only do it “with the entire shirt showing,” he wrote.
“If that’s not an option then I don’t want another picture. You can just leave the space blank. I refuse to appease these type of people or give this man the satisfaction he is so desperately seeking.”
Daniels has been an employee at Sam’s Club for a decade.
“If I was violating dress code in a way I understand completely. But I feel like for me to take this down and retake it, I’m letting this man win and that sends the wrong kind of message,” he said.
After his post, Sam’s Club’s issued a statement in support of Daniels, WJLA reports.
“We respect and support T.C.’s decision not to retake the photo and agree that his shirt is not offensive. He is a great associate and his photo will remain posted.”
