Toya Campbell has filed a lawsuit against her former employer, Wal-Mart Associates, Inc., alleging severe workplace discrimination and harassment. The complaint was lodged on September 30, 2024, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Campbell accuses Wal-Mart of subjecting her to sexual orientation-based harassment and retaliating against her when she reported these incidents.
According to the details of the case, Toya Campbell began working for Wal-Mart as an overnight team lead in May 2017. However, from February 2023 through December 2023, she faced increasing hostility at work due to her sexual orientation as a lesbian female. She reports being subjected to derogatory slurs and offensive comments from colleagues and supervisors alike. Despite reporting these incidents to her manager, Gregory Bella, no corrective action was taken; instead, both Campbell and those making the remarks were reprimanded.
The situation escalated when Supervisor Thomas Hathaway and Team Lead May Smith allegedly joined in the discriminatory behavior. Even after filing multiple complaints with Wal-Mart's Ethics Department throughout 2023, Campbell claims that no steps were taken by the company to address or prevent further harassment. Ultimately, on December 11, 2023, Hathaway terminated Campbell's employment under what she believes was a pretextual claim of "gross misconduct," without providing any documentation or specifics.
Campbell's ordeal did not end with her termination. On July 30, 2024, during a visit to the store where she had worked—ostensibly to see her girlfriend who is employed there—Hathaway confronted her again. He insisted that she was barred from entering due to her previous termination despite having visited before without issue. This incident further underscored what Campbell perceives as ongoing discrimination based on her sexual orientation.
In response to these events, Campbell is seeking redress under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for sexual orientation-based harassment and retaliation. She asserts that Wal-Mart acted with willful disregard for her rights and failed to provide a safe working environment free from discrimination. As part of her lawsuit, Campbell is demanding back pay and benefits lost due to wrongful termination along with compensatory damages for emotional distress suffered during this period.
The case highlights serious allegations against one of America's largest employers regarding its treatment of LGBTQ+ employees within its workforce. Represented by attorney Chad W. Eisenback from Sulaiman Law Group Ltd., Toya Campbell seeks justice not only for herself but also aims to bring attention to systemic issues within corporate environments that allow such discrimination to persist unchecked.
This case has been assigned Case ID: 1:24-cv-09184 and will be presided over by judges yet unnamed in court documents.