Jiffy Lube suspends manager after biracial WA teen says he got ‘George Floyd’ invoice

A biracial teen took his car to get an oil change at a Jiffy Lube in Vancouver, Washington, and was shocked when he discovered his invoice had the name “George Floyd” on it.

The teen called it “blatant racism,” local media reported, and the manager of the store has been suspended, Jennifer Friedmann, a spokesperson for Jiffy Lube, told McClatchy News in an email.

“It’s scary as a parent,” LaDonna Kirkpatrick, the mother of Dustin Hawkins, told KGW. “I don’t know if something is going to happen to him because he is mixed and the world sees him as Black.”

Hawkins took his recently purchased Mitsubishi Eclipse to Jiffy Lube for an oil change on Feb. 27 and doesn’t recall anything out of the ordinary until he left the store, according to KGW.

“I handed the paperwork to my sister because I was going to read it later,” said Hawkins, the TV station reported. “And she said, ‘Dustin, why did you tell them your name was George Floyd,’ and I go, ‘What?’”

Hawkins explained no one even asked for his name at the service center.

“That was some blatant racism,” he told the TV station.

Hawkins told McClatchy News that he’s dismayed by some of the social media comments about the incident.

“I’m shocked on how this has blown up so fast, but what’s crazier is the amount of hate my family and I have received,” Hawkins said in an email. “...It seems that there is more hatred than support, which is baffling. But for all of those who are supporting me I thank you and intend on doing what I can to make a difference.”

The death of George Floyd

Floyd, 46, died while in police custody on May 25, 2020, and his death sparked an avalanche of protests and cries of racial injustice across the nation. Floyd’s death came after now-fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for at least eight minutes, as three other officers didn’t intervene.

Jury selection in Chauvin’s trial begins Monday.

Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, but the third-degree murder charge was later dropped.

An appeals court in Minnesota, however, ruled Friday that a lower court should reconsider reinstating the third-degree murder charge against Chauvin.

Jiffy Lube takes action

Barbette Morris, a friend of Hawkins’s family, attached a photo of the invoice to a Facebook post about the incident Thursday, calling for the employee responsible to be fired. Morris said in a later comment that employees claimed it was an accident when she spoke with them.

“They use that name on fake invoices. Who does that?” Morris wrote.

Jiffy Lube commented on Morris’s post, calling the incident “incredibly troubling” and saying it “does not reflect the brand’s values.”

“I’d like to see them change their policy to make sure they don’t do this again and to go through some racial training,” Kirkpatrick told KGW.

The company took action by suspending the manager while the incident is under investigation and closing the store through the weekend in order to put staff through “required racial and diversity sensitivity training,” Friedmann said.

“Jiffy Lube International, Inc. remains committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. Our principles are based on our core values of honesty, integrity and respect for people and are part of everything we do,” Friedmann said.

This story was originally published March 5, 2021 at 4:50 PM with the headline "Jiffy Lube suspends manager after biracial WA teen says he got ‘George Floyd’ invoice."