In a compelling legal battle that underscores the ongoing challenges of workplace discrimination, an African-American man has filed a lawsuit against his former employer for racial discrimination, disability harassment, and retaliation. Antonio Davis initiated the complaint on February 24, 2025, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution, LLC and John Sears.
Antonio Davis claims that during his tenure at Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution, he was subjected to persistent racial discrimination and harassment due to his dyslexia. The lawsuit outlines that Davis was hired as an Inside Sales Representative in August 2022 and later transferred to the Logistics Department as a Dispatcher in March 2023. Initially supervised by Tanya Vera-Pallela, Davis alleges that he faced discriminatory comments related to his race and disability from her. He recalls incidents where Vera-Pallela made derogatory remarks about African-American culture and belittled him due to his dyslexia. After reporting these issues to Human Resources, Davis was moved under the supervision of John Sears. However, he claims that Sears continued the pattern of racial harassment with offensive comments about black people and unfairly held him accountable for tasks assigned to others.
Davis argues that these experiences led to significant mental health deterioration. Despite raising concerns with Human Resources again, he asserts that no effective action was taken. Instead, he faced retaliation culminating in his termination in June 2024 after filing complaints about Sears' conduct. Davis's lawsuit cites violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1981.
In seeking justice, Antonio Davis requests several forms of relief from the court: a permanent injunction against further discriminatory practices by Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution; compensation for lost employment benefits; damages for mental anguish; punitive damages; reinstatement; pre-judgment interest; attorney fees; and other compensatory damages deemed appropriate by the court.
Representing Antonio Davis are attorneys Uche O. Asonye and Dan Augustus Asonye from Asonye & Associates based in Chicago. The case is identified as Case No. 1:25-cv-01932.