Paulina Galvez has filed a lawsuit against her employer, Wal-Mart Associates, Inc., doing business as Sam's Club, alleging racial discrimination and retaliation. The complaint was lodged in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on September 23, 2024. Galvez accuses Sam's Club of creating a hostile work environment and unlawfully terminating her employment based on race.
The case centers around allegations that Paulina Galvez, an African American employee at a Sam's Club store in Hodgkins, Illinois, faced ongoing racial discrimination from April to August 2024. Despite meeting performance expectations, she claims she was denied full-time hours and subjected to discriminatory remarks by her managers. "They needed to evaluate whether they 'liked' me," Galvez recounts being told when requesting more hours—a statement she perceived as racially charged given her status as the only African American on her team.
Galvez alleges that two non-African American managers falsely accused her of time theft, further contributing to a hostile work environment. After filing complaints with both the company's ethics department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), she claims no meaningful action was taken by Sam's Club to address these issues. Instead, she was ostracized and ultimately terminated under what she describes as pretextual grounds of poor attendance.
The complaint outlines multiple violations of federal law, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1981, which protect employees from race-based discrimination and harassment. Galvez seeks compensatory damages for lost wages and emotional distress, punitive damages for willful misconduct by Sam's Club, and legal fees. She emphasizes that despite raising concerns internally and externally about discriminatory practices, her employer failed to conduct thorough investigations or provide any protective measures.
Attorney Mohammed O. Badwan represents Paulina Galvez in this case before Judge Unspecified in the Northern District of Illinois under Case ID: 1:24-cv-08770.