Daniel Sullivan has filed an employment discrimination complaint against Hostess Brands LLC and its successor, The J.M. Smucker Company. The complaint was lodged in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on May 24, 2024.
Sullivan, a white male residing in West Dundee, Illinois, alleges that he faced discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful discharge while employed by Hostess Brands LLC. He claims that Ty Davis, a senior Human Resources Manager at Hostess Brands and a black male, exhibited racist behavior towards white employees. According to Sullivan, Davis frequently wore Black Lives Matter and "Black Power" shirts and organized events favoring black individuals over white employees. Sullivan asserts that Davis treated him and other white employees differently and inferiorly compared to their black counterparts.
Sullivan began working for Hostess in 2021 and was promoted to supervisor in November 2023. However, he contends that he was not provided with adequate training for his new role. Shortly after his promotion, on November 18, 2023, Sullivan was terminated from his position. He alleges that Davis fabricated reasons for his termination as retaliation for reporting Davis's discriminatory actions to management.
The complaint further details instances where Davis allegedly falsified documents or overlooked policies to benefit black employees while harming white employees. For example, Sullivan claims that Davis altered attendance records to save a black female employee's job and created false documents to justify firing him.
Sullivan's lawsuit accuses the defendants of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. §2000e et seq.) and the Illinois Human Rights Act (775 ILCS 5/8A-101). He seeks various forms of relief from the court, including reinstatement to his former position with appropriate back pay and benefits or front pay if reinstatement is not feasible. Additionally, he requests compensatory damages for mental distress and humiliation caused by the alleged discriminatory conduct, punitive damages for illegal actions by the defendants, attorney's fees, costs associated with prosecuting this action, and other equitable relief deemed just by the court.
The case is being handled by Steven D. Horak of Buffalo Grove, Illinois as Sullivan’s attorney. The case ID is 1:24-cv-04316.