89-Year-Old Woman Refused Gas Station Restroom, Went In Public

CHARLOTTE, NC — An 89-year-old woman was denied use of a gas station bathroom in Charlotte in June, according to reports, leading to her urinating in public. Evelyn Redic was riding home in a church van when it got a flat tire near a Shell and Circle K, WBTV reports.

"I have never been more embarrassed," Redic said, according to her granddaughter Katossa Glover, a report from WBTV says. "She was outraged," at the incident, which reminded her of the Jim Crow days. Back then, it was common for black Americans to be refused services.

“People are tired of being mistreated,” Glover said, “and a woman who has been here since 1929, who has gone through that, will not experience that in 2018 without the community fighting.”

HuffPost reports a gas station employee, who declined to be identified, said it's been a policy to refuse restroom service to non-employees for 10 years. Circle K apologized for any inconvenience caused.

“Circle K is aware of the incident last week at one of its stores in Charlotte, North Carolina and we have looked into it thoroughly,” the statement read, HuffPost reported. “First, we want Ms. Redic to know that we are sincerely sorry that her visit to our store caused her any inconvenience. Unfortunately, Ms. Redic was at one of our small kiosk stations that does not have a restroom accessible to the public.”

Mecklenburg County Commissioner Vilma Leake caught wind of the story. “She’s a human being and they are human,” she said. “That is out of the ordinary to say no to somebody that age.”

But, if Redic has used the bathroom and fallen or gotten injured in any other way, "We would have been liable," the employee said.

“Please know that the majority of our locations in Charlotte are equipped with easily accessible public restrooms and many other amenities for our visitors," Circle K said in a statement, according to HuffPost. "We welcome Ms. Redic to one of these locations. Please also know that at Circle K, we take great pride in the partnership we have with the Charlotte community and we plan to continue down this path.”

WBTV learned from Mecklenburg County officials that the gas station has a legal right to decide who can use the station's facilities.

Article image Linda Armstrong via Shutterstock