Alphonzo K.

A Grievance against
Verizon Wireless

Alphonzo Kellin *******591
Affordable Odd Jobs & Removal
Verizon Business account #*******0001
(account pin #*******)
7813 E. 117th Ter
Kansas City, Missouri *******
Grievance vs.
Verizon Wireless
P. O. Box 408
Newark, NJ *******

No business man should ever have to go through what I went through in business with Verizon Wireless.
It is a hard thing for me to agree that the behavior of a select few is not reflective of the ideology of Verizon as a whole. How would you feel if you were thrown in jail for 103 days for something you were not guilty of by a company you were in business with?
This is exactly what happened to me at the hand of Verizon Wireless.
This betrayal has my family and I puzzled because when I originally signed my business account contract, I was assured by Verizon staff that business account holders were the company's top priority. Verizon's policy credo is laced with integrity of the highest degree. I actually believed that up until I sat half naked in a cold jail cell over lies and false insinuations that made it obvious my prosecution was a retaliatory attempt by Verizon to prematurely force money out of my business for their services. To show me their business as a whole was superior, and that this is what happens to those who dare speak out about their black business bias service practices.
Against me, there arose a pattern of contempt from Verizon over my being a black business owner lawfully utilizing too quickly the enormous credit line they afforded me for some reason, and in hindsight, at some point it became clear Verizon no longer wanted to be in business with me anymore but that they were unwilling to part ways without being paid in full. So under the guise of fraudulent activity, they flagged my business account in order to establish justification for my mistreatment at the store level--for which I endured boldly.
This racial profiling has to cease.
Somewhere amongst the ranks, equity training needs to be implemented throughout in order for Verizon employees to better understand that not every black man previously convicted of a crime years ago, is up to no good in this life. My race, and Verizon's desire to get paid immediately for services rendered, appear to be the obvious primary driving force as to why I was singled out on two separate occasions to be ultimately denied service for nearly three hours within two of its Kansas Verizon stores. The first occasion ended in a racial discrimination complaint of mine kindly escalated to your higher-ups on April 3,2019 by an over-the-phone Verizon employee who overheard the manager's words of contempt towards me. The second occasion ended with my arrest for a crime I did not do. Both times I was refused servicereminiscent of a time in America where blacks, by virtue of their skin color, were readily refused service at local businesses throughout the 1950's and 1960's era. I would never have believed such a thing was possible here in 2019 had it not happened to me; and by a company portrayed in television commercials as trustworthy and reliable.
The hate I experienced from those within this company was devastating to say the least. My legitimate excavation business contracts grossing me well over $4200--paid on the 26th of every month for the next upcoming month of work, have dissipated because of Verizon's actions. Clients lost trust in me behind this after I gave them assurances I would remain free to complete their work. My business account with Sprint failed because I was in jail for nearly four months fighting for my freedom the result of the Verizon prosecution against me. I defaulted on loan payments, I lost my vehicle that was seized stemming from my arrest, I lost cash, I lost phone devices, I lost property in general, I missed critical doctors appointments April 29,2019, and May 23,2019, for a foot injury I sustained after an UBER accident March 9,2019, meaning, I was forced to endure pain for months because adequate medical care was not available to me in jail like it would be had I remained free. Try being prescribed two 500 milligram tablets of Naproxen daily and see how your kidneys fair after so long? Verizon crippled my life to the point I have been unable to pay any debts to anyone until I can get my life back on track financially.
Verizon ruined my life.
Therefore; now that I possess supporting documents, I hold Verizon Wireless responsible as a whole for the actions of their employees who acted within the scope of their employment when they conspired behind closed doors that day to get me arrested and jailed for felony Theft by Deception without any probable cause to believe so as I innocently awaited the lawful purchase of an iPhone 8 I had previously been approved for that they led me to believe I was waiting for them to bring out to me. Their actions were maliciously done in the furtherance of Verizon's interests, thinking that payment to Verizon will certainly follow a successful criminal prosecution. Yet despite this being a groundless, baseless criminal claim, Verizon pushed because they were bigger than me, mounting numerous witnesses against me--the real victim, even though Verizon was listed as the victim throughout the criminal complaint and police reports. Verizon was indeed a very active participant in a failed felony prosecution against me.
As you will read in the attached police reports, Verizon initiated this entire matter with a call to the police wherein they told dispatchers a bold face lie that stated I was engaged in a "forgery in progress" the day I was arrested even though they knew full well I was in store waiting on them to make a lawful purchase of a device on a personal account. Racially insensitive claims were made during the call to police by Verizon employees doing their very best to encourage the cops to arrest me, labeling me a "suspect" who had "hit" multiple stores and that I was a returning "suspect from the past" there attempting to steal from Verizon once again. Verizon did not hesitate to include my physical description as a black male in the same call to police with the word "suspect" either, knowing full well the increased possibility of hostility such a phrase instills on a predominantly white Johnson County, Kansas Police force.
Funny how a black business man making lawful purchases at several stores, is portrayed to police as having "hit" multiple stores like I had robbed someone in Verizon at gunpoint or burglarized the place? Funny how a black business man making a lawful purchase of an iPhone 8, is portrayed to police by Verizon that I am engaged in an unfounded, baseless "forgery in progress" claim? There is no question my race had everything to do with this matter, and that I was not viewed as a human being deserving of dignity and respect in business with this company. My time spent in jail fighting the Goliath that is Verizon Wireless, was a hard thing to endure for 103 days knowing full well I broke no laws to get there. And by God's great grace, the prosecutor was able to see this matter for what it really was and dismissed the case herself for lack of probable cause.
There were several daggers in the criminal prosecution that made this matter suspect from the start. For one, there was not so much as a hint of deception here since all my purchases were made lawfully. For two, Verizon's unfounded belief that I was likely not going to pay my bill, was insincere amiss the fact that the devices I purchased March 26,2019, for which I was being prosecuted for, were only in my possession less than a month on the day I was arrested April 25,2019. Meaning, no prophet could predict at that point in time I was never going to pay my bill when the account in question hadn't even been open a full month yet. No business in America could be justified in an assumption a business client was never going to pay their bill when the client has not atleast been afforded a month to pay. The irony of my arrest within the Verizon store April 25,2019, is that had Verizon simply put aside their unjustified skepticism and waited one more day on the 26th, I would have gotten paid for my next excavation job, and paid my Verizon bill from those proceeds (see enclosed pay stubs found in my car by police after I was arrested). But because I was ironically arrested a day before, I never saw that next $4200 payday.
Verizon jumped the gun.
Now, I'm holding Verizon fully accountable for their intrusion, and decimation of my life. In that, despite this Malicious Prosecution, I still dare to believe Verizon has the heart to make this right and settle this grievance promptly after acknowledgment of their shortcomings dealing with me. Not every employee of Verizon is racially bias against black business owners, so I, with confidence, put to task someone in the higher-ups reading this grievance, to do everything in their power to straighten this matter out to the highest degree of customer service imaginable! Everyone thinks I'm selling myself short by grieving this matter under the belief Verizon may still have enough integrity to say, "we are sorry we used legal process unjustly to break our business relationship with you and that you suffered great loss as a result." Followed up with the $2.7 million dollar settlement gift I am requesting.
After doing the math on the amount of time spent behind bars for a crime I did not commit--and by the Goliath company responsible for sending me there, economic losses, and the downright racial contempt no man should ever be exposed to from a wireless company in 2019 or beyond, we feel a $2,700,000 settlement is more than appropriate--with the inclusion of a promise to implement equity training concerning business clients of different races some in Verizon may be tempted to consider a "suspect" by virtue of their ethnicity.
Verizon is guilty of:
Malicious Prosecution (predicated by retaliation and racial discrimination)
Civil Conspiracy
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Defamation
In the state of Kansas, there are five elements needed to be proven to prevail on a tort of Malicious Prosecution:
Verizon initiated, continued, or procured the proceeding of which complaint is made. (Verizon called the police, actively complained of a crime, made statements, and mounted witnesses and documents).
Verizon in doing so acted without probable cause. (Verizon knew there was no deception whatsoever, and that all my purchases of their devices was done lawfully. Verizon also knew that with the device account in question being less than a month old, no reasonable assumption that I was not going to pay my bill, was justified. It was too soon to make such a determination).
Verizon acted with malice. (Knowing full well no probable cause existed I had committed a crime at all, Verizon employees, motivated by my black race, conspired behind closed doors inside the store, lied to police and had me arrested anyhow. Verizon had me arrested in retaliation for my complaints of racial bias after being refused service in one of their stores. Verizon also had me arrested because they sought to sever our business contract right away under the guise of fraudulent activity, prompting immediate payment they knew they could easily secure via a crime victim's compensation following a successful criminal prosecution).
The proceedings terminated in favor of Alphonzo. (The prosecutor dismissed the case for lack of probable cause).
Alphonzo sustained damages. (I lost everything due to 103 days of incarceration at the behest of Verizon).
BRIEF FACTS

On March 25,2019, I, Alphonzo Kellin, opened Verizon Business account #*******901 (pin # *******) under business name: Affordable Odd Jobs and Removal, ******* Dunham, Grandview, Missouri *******, tax id #90-*******. That day I was approved for a $7500 credit line plus at least ten lines of service without the need to pay taxes up front for devices. So I purchased one 11inch iPad pro and four iPhone XR. A total of five devices plus accessories.
On March 26,2019, I, on my business account, lawfully purchased two iPad 6gen tablets and four iPhone XR plus accessories. A total of six devices.
At sundry times between March 26,2019 and April 25,2019, I lawfully made purchases on my business account at various local Verizon stores (mostly accessories).
On April 3,2019, while attempting to make another accessories purchase on my existing Verizon business account, I was ultimately denied service for three hours while a female manager badgered me on my race as a black business owner. Her skepticism that such a person existed prevented her from affording me the right to make a purchase even though I had successfully been refunded a credit to my business account after just returning a few accessories with her. When I called over another in-store Verizon rep to help, the female manager in question would not allow her co-worker to assist me. So because of this, I reached out to an over-the-phone Verizon rep while I was being badgered and the rep over the phone hearing the way I was being talked to, escalated the matter on my behalf.
Because of my filed racial discrimination complaint, a Verizon representative (they sikked a black man on me) reached out to me by phone and allowed me to air out my problem more clearly. Days later, I received an email from Verizon at: *******@gmail.com stating that the matter was resolved.
On April 25,2019, I returned to the Verizon store located at ******* W. 95th Street, Overland Park, Kansas, to purchase an iPhone 8 at full retail price for my nephew, when I was intentionally stalled by the Verizon employee helping me with the buy named, Dominic Foreman, who is black. Behind closed doors, a "meeting of the minds" took place between Dominic Foreman and assistant manager, Maria Rodriguez, since it is obvious Dominic had to concur with his superior first before the police could be called. Unbeknownst to me, they affirmatively decided that they would do everything in their power to encourage the police to arrest me for lawful purchases made in their store on March 26,2019 and beyond.
I served 103 days behind bars until the prosecutor dismissed the case herself. I was released August 6,2019 with only. 38 cents to my name.