07/04/2020
Hello. I haven’t publicly introduced myself on here yet and figured it is probably time to do that. For those who do not know me through their encounters at Present Moment, my name is Selena Gallagher. I am one of the daughters of the founder of Present Moment, Bob Gallagher. My beloved father, Bob Gallagher, passed away in 2018. I helped take care of him for about five years while he was ailing. Present Moment was passed on to his four children (three of whom are Indigenous, myself included). I am the only one of my siblings who work at the store, and I’ve worked here now for nearly half of my life. I started around the age of 16 and am now almost 30. I am still transitioning and still healing from the loss of my father. He and I were very close and he was the only parent I was close to.
I want to start out by saying I am truly so sorry for the way our two (former) employees acted and lashed out towards a customer on Thursday, July 2nd. I was unaware that these employees would ever treat anyone like that, and especially a woman (person) of color. I am truly so sorry.
Side note: After covid, we created three guidelines for everyone entering our store:
1. Mask (as required by city)
2. Hand sanitizer
3. Touch-less temperature check. Because there is so much to touch inside the store,we thought it would be an effective way to practice safety regarding the virus.
Next, I want to explain the incident that occurred yesterday. I want to be upfront for those who have been asking, to the best of my knowledge and depiction. Upon entering our store, a customer was verbally abused inside of our store. She was greeted by our former employee, and told she must be wearing a mask to enter our store. The woman agreed, and had her mask hanging from her ear. Next, the customer wanted to know her temperature, which was read by the former employee upon her entry. The employee did not let her know what it was and I have no idea why. This may have escalated the situation and may have impacted how the customer felt she was being treated. After tensions were rising, I believe the former employee asked the woman to leave our establishment. The customer would not and I completely understand why as she truly had done nothing wrong. It was then that I think the former employee called her mother, who was also another former employee of our store. Within minutes, her mother was there, backing her up and saying the police would be called if she didn’t leave the establishment. The police were called. I cannot believe it and am heartbroken about it. I am so truly sorry that the police were called. This goes completely against my personal ethics and belief system. This turned into severe verbal abuse and even threats towards this customer. It was awful.
Immediately, I contacted my brother-in-law, who is currently acting as a manager of the business. He reviewed the videos, and agreed that we had no choice but let the employees go immediately. That was my initial reaction as well.
Moving forward, this type of interaction cannot and will not be tolerated at our beloved establishment. My dad wouldn’t stand for it and I won’t either. I will work on making sure a situation like this will never be handled in such a foul and disgusting manner, ever again. We will pursue training on white supremacy and black liberation moving forward, on a continual basis. We will use our best judgement to never hire someone who will treat anyone like this ever again.We hope to have more BIPOC people working at our store as well (three of five current floor employees are BIPOC, but we need more). We want people of color to feel welcome, respected, and as though they belong at Present Moment. Present Moment serves the people and let me be clear, all people.
Thank you for taking the time to read this second statement of apology from me personally. Thank you for expressing your rightful concerns with our business. Thank you for giving us a chance to be better and do better. I firmly believe that each day I can and want to strive to be better than the day before. We are taking this day by day and figuring out ways to improve ourselves as a business, with the hopes of doing better for our community. Thank you for giving us your loyal love and support for all of these years. I can’t believe it has been 40 years (this year on Mother’s day), my dad would be so happy to know that his dream is still alive and striving.
With respect and gratitude,
Selena Gallagher
