Last month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a round of lawsuits against retail behemoth Walmart for allegations including sexual harassment, retaliation, and disability discrimination against its employees.
A manager at a Walmart supercenter in Lewisburg, West Virginia, has been accused of sexual harassment toward several female employees. The allegations against this manager include that he engaged in unwelcome and offensive sexual touching, requested sexual acts in exchange for money or favorable treatment at work, requested employees to expose intimate areas, and made crude sexual innuendos.[1] Additionally, the company is alleged to have wrongfully terminated one employee in retaliation for the harassment.
In Farmingdale, New York, an employee of a Walmart Supercenter who has obvious hearing, speech, and cognitive impairments was allegedly fired, despite several years of performing her job duties successfully with appropriate accommodations, when new management was put in place.[2] The new management ceased to provide accommodations for the employee and then fired her for performance issues caused by the removal of the accommodations. The store would not accept documentation of the employee’s disability nor reconsider the termination decision.
Two deaf employees working as overnight stockers at a Walmart store in Olathe, Kansas, were allegedly forced to quit after Walmart failed to provide them with the necessary accommodations to successfully fulfill their duties, including providing an interpreter during orientation, training, and meetings, and
[1] https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-sues-walmart-sexual-harassment-and-retaliation
[2] https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-sues-walmart-disability-discrimination-7