Former forklift operator alleges racial discrimination a hostile work environment, denial of light-duty accommodations, and retaliatory firing following a June 27, 2024 battery explosion at HD Supply’s GA02 Forest Park warehouse.
ATLANTA, Georgia — What began as a routine warehouse shift in June 2024 at HD Supply’s Forest Park, Georgia distribution center has become, according to federal court records, the centerpiece of a $50 million civil-rights lawsuit now pending in the Northern District of Georgia.
In a newly filed federal complaint, Hall v. HD Supply, Inc., Civil Action No. 1:25-cv-06567 (N.D. Ga.), former employee Quinton J. Hall alleges that the forklift he was operating on June 27, 2024, began to malfunction on the warehouse floor — first smoking, then overheating, and ultimately exploding — releasing a cloud of fumes that left him disoriented and with a lasting back injury. What followed, Hall claims, was not protection or support from management, but a pattern of humiliation, denial of accommodations, and retaliation that ended with his termination one month later.
Hall, who is representing himself pro se, seeks not less than $50 million in economic and non-economic damages. He frames the case as a fight over “safety and dignity behind warehouse walls” at one of the nation’s largest industrial distributors. HD Supply has not yet filed its response, and the court has not ruled on the merits of Hall’s allegations. At this stage, they remain allegations.
From Temp Worker to High Performer
Hall’s complaint traces his employment back to–, when he joined HD Supply’s Forest Park distribution center as a temporary worker on the warehouse “put-away” team. By March 2024, he had been converted to a regular full-time employee.
According to the filing, Hall quickly established himself as one of the more reliable workers in his department. He asserts that he consistently met or exceeded productivity and safety expectations, accepted frequent overtime when requested, and received internal recognition and positive feedback. The complaint describes Hall as one of the strongest forklift and put-away operators on his team — a worker trusted with high-priority assignments and considered dependable under pressure.
Hall contends that trajectory changed abruptly after the forklift incident in late June 2024.
The Forklift Battery Incident and Alleged Permanent Back Injury
The central factual allegation in the lawsuit is the June 27, 2024 forklift battery event inside the Forest Park warehouse.
According to the federal complaint, Hall was operating a forklift on the warehouse floor when he noticed excessive heat and smoke coming from the battery compartment. He claims the situation escalated quickly, forcing him to deploy two fire extinguishers inside the facility in order to bring the incident under control.
Hall maintains that this was not a minor scare. He alleges that the explosion, heat, and fumes left him disoriented and caused a serious back injury that has never fully resolved. The complaint characterizes this moment as both a personal turning point and a symptom of broader safety problems at the facility. Hall says photo and video exhibits show flames or smoke associated with battery and charging equipment, including an image of a warehouse charger allegedly reading approximately 158°F.
A few days later, on or about July 1, 2024, Hall alleges that his supervisor acknowledged the incident in a one-on-one conversation and told him, “You did all you could do, I’m just glad you’re ok.” Hall points to this statement as evidence that management was aware of both the safety event and his resulting injury.
Following the incident, Hall asserts that he continued to experience symptoms and requested reasonable accommodations, including modified duties more compatible with his physical limitations.
“The Cage,” Light-Duty Work, and Alleged Unequal Treatment
A key pillar of Hall’s discrimination and accommodation claims is his account of how HD Supply allegedly handled light-duty work after his injury.
According to the complaint, HD Supply maintained an enclosed light-duty area on the warehouse floor, informally known among employees as “the cage.” Workers with medical restrictions, Hall says, were sometimes assigned to this area to perform less physically demanding tasks.
Hall alleges that other employees with physical limitations were given “cage” assignments and lighter duties, while he — despite reporting a back injury and requesting accommodations — was denied comparable light-duty work. Instead, he claims he was directed to perform more strenuous tasks while still recovering.
To support this theory, Hall says he preserved publicly available social-media footage that, according to him, shows non-black employees performing lighter duties inside the cage while he, despite his injury, was assigned heavier work elsewhere in the warehouse. He argues that this discrepancy — particularly in a context he frames as involving both race and disability — supports an inference of discrimination and pretext under federal civil-rights and disability-law standards.
Escalating Tension and Termination
The complaint alleges that the relationship between Hall and management deteriorated rapidly in July 2024.
On or about July 23, 2024, Hall describes what he calls a “hostile confrontation” with a supervisor from another department at the distribution center. Around the same time, he claims he raised internal concerns about what he viewed as unfair treatment and ongoing safety problems.
The next day, according to the complaint, that supervisor allegedly made comments about Hall to others after learning that he had filed a written complaint regarding her conduct. Hall cites a notarized witness affidavit that he documents statements suggesting retaliation — including a remark that he would “get what’s coming.”
Two days later, on July 25, 2024, Hall’s employment ended.
Hall alleges that he received a phone call in which a company representative informed him that he was being terminated for an “outburst” with the supervisor on July 23. When he asked what, specifically, he had done or said, the representative allegedly told him she did not know because she “wasn’t back there when it happened.”
Hall argues that this admission shows no proper factual investigation was conducted before his termination. He characterizes the stated reason — an “outburst” that the decision-maker could not describe — as pretext for unlawful discrimination and retaliation after he raised concerns about safety, fairness, and accommodations.
Safety Concerns After Hall Left
Hall’s employment ended in July 2024, but his complaint asserts that similar equipment and battery issues continued at the Forest Park facility more than a year later.
On October 23, 2025, a former co-worker allegedly recorded visible smoke coming from a forklift battery compartment inside the same distribution center. An internal incident report dated October 28, 2025 describing that event is attached as one of Hall’s exhibits, according to the filing.
Hall points to this later incident as corroboration of the safety concerns he says he raised while employed — ongoing equipment, battery, and charging hazards that, in his view, posed continuing risks to workers on the warehouse floor.
Medical and Psychological Impact
The complaint devotes substantial attention to the lasting physical and psychological impact Hall attributes to the forklift incident and its aftermath.
According to the filing, a licensed psychologist evaluated Hall and diagnosed him with:
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (severe)
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Severe anxiety, with associated functional limitations
Hall also cites an evaluation by an orthopedic specialist that he says documented a lumbar injury and resulted in a permanent partial disability assessment. That work-status note, according to the complaint, imposed restrictions on the type of physical activity he should perform at work going forward.
Taken together, Hall contends, these medical opinions demonstrate that he has sustained a permanent injury that limits his ability to perform physically demanding warehouse work and has diminished his long-term earning capacity.
Out of Work and Alleged Economic Losses
Since his termination on July 25, 2024, Hall alleges he has been unable to secure new employment despite what he describes as extensive efforts to find work.
The complaint states that Hall has submitted more than 300 job applications, reached out to employers and recruiters, attended interviews, followed up with prospective employers, and maintained a detailed mitigation log documenting his job search. He asserts that this record shows he has met his legal obligation to mitigate damages.
Hall contends that his ongoing unemployment stems from his physical injury, psychological trauma, and the stigma associated with the way his employment ended — not from any unwillingness to work. He estimates his combined economic and non-economic losses, including back pay, front pay, lost benefits, medical expenses, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life, at not less than $50 million, and notes that the figure could increase as additional evidence emerges in discovery.
The Legal Claims: Civil Rights, Disability, and State Law
Hall’s lawsuit sets out a multi-layered set of legal claims that combine federal civil-rights and disability statutes with state-law tort theories.
Among the causes of action listed in the complaint are:
- Race discrimination, based on alleged disparate treatment and termination in violation of federal civil-rights laws
- Hostile work environment, alleging severe or pervasive conduct tied to race and disability
- Retaliation, claiming HD Supply punished him for complaining about discrimination and safety
- Disability discrimination and failure to accommodate, alleging the company did not reasonably adjust his duties after his back injury
- Retaliation and interference under federal disability law
- A claim under a federal statute that, in certain race-discrimination cases, allows for uncapped compensatory and punitive damages
- Defamation under Georgia law, based on alleged statements that he was “faking” his injury
- A state-law wrongful termination / retaliatory discharge theory, pled in the alternative
Hall demands a jury trial on all claims triable by jury and expressly seeks compensatory, punitive, and, where applicable, liquidated damages.
An Unusually Document-Heavy Pro Se Case
The complaint emphasizes that this is not a bare-bones filing. Unlike many pro se employment lawsuits, which often proceed with minimal evidentiary support, Hall’s case is paired with a substantial exhibit set.
According to the filing, his supporting materials include:
- His administrative charge and Right-to-Sue notice from a federal civil-rights agency
- Internal performance awards and positive evaluations
- Seventeen notarized witness affidavits
- Safety complaints and incident reports related to forklift batteries and charging equipment
- Photo and video evidence of smoke and alleged overheating equipment
- Medical records, psychological evaluations, and disability notices
- A detailed job-search mitigation log
- Comparator evidence, including images and footage that Hall says show other employees receiving lighter “cage” assignments while he continued heavier work
- Internal incident reports describing the forklift battery event
Hall argues that this record will demonstrate not only that HD Supply’s stated reasons for its actions are unfounded, but that the company acted with “malice or reckless indifference” to his rights — language that tracks the legal standard for punitive damages in many federal discrimination cases.
Inside HD Supply
While the lawsuit focuses on a single warehouse and a single worker’s experience, it targets a major player in the industrial-supply sector.
Founded in 1974, HD Supply has grown into one of the nation’s largest industrial distributors, serving construction, maintenance, and institutional customers across the United States. The complaint notes that the company’s business segments include HD Supply HVAC products and systems, HD Supply flooring materials and installation supplies, HD Supply appliances for multifamily, hospitality, and commercial properties, and HD Supply facility maintenance inventory and repair solutions.
Through its e-commerce platform — often referred to as HD Supply online shopping — the company serves contractors, government agencies, property managers, and maintenance professionals nationwide. It also offers HD Supply net 30 accounts, a trade-credit option that allows qualified customers to purchase materials on 30-day invoicing terms, widely used in construction and property management as a short-term financing tool.
HD Supply operates numerous locations and employs thousands of workers. The company maintains an HD Supply careers portal that advertises roles across its operations, even as Hall’s complaint asks a federal judge and jury to scrutinize what he says happened behind the walls of one of its Georgia warehouses.
