Audry McQueen, 35, of Longview, Washington, United States and Shalleena Canizal, 33, of Vancouver, Washington used to work at the ampm convenient store in Longview. McQueen was an attendant while Canizal was a clerk.

Incorporated on April 10, 2018, Ramji LLC owns the ampm store in Longview. Anjana Sarad, 44, and Manoj Sarad, 45, are listed as the governors of Ramji LLC while Pawar Law LLC is the company’s agent and executor.

Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) founded ampm in 1978. Established in 1966, ARCO is a brand of gasoline stations owned by Marathon Petroleum Corporation.

On January 21, 2022, Anthony Simmons, then 42, of Portland, Oregon, USA was working late at his auto garage in Longview. At around 11:00 p.m., he grabbed some take-out for dinner.

There were no napkins in the bag of Simmons’ order so he stopped by the ampm store in Longview and parked his truck in the loading zone. Inside the store, McQueen confronted Simmons and told him to move his truck.

McQueen allegedly called Simmons “Boy” so he told her there was no need to be racist. She allegedly went on to call him the N-word four or five times.

Responding to the racist remarks, Simmons shoved a plastic sunglass display case on the counter toward McQueen. As he turned to leave, she extended a collapsible baton and allegedly tried to hit him with it. 

That was when Canizal called 911. She told the operator, “I have a black man who’s literally damaging my product. He assaulted us both.”

According to Simmons, he was falsely accused of crimes. In the background of the 911 recording, McQueen can be heard repeatedly calling him a racist name.

On April 4, 2023, Simmons filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Washington against not only McQueen and Canizal but also Anjana and Manoj. The lawsuit claims that Ramji LLC is directly liable for the discriminatory conduct of its employees.